|
|
|
Robyn Haynes, "Self as a Work in Progress" On the basis that one's "self" is a work in progress, the study of the elderly allows for the long perspective of lives almost completed. A progression as it were, from conception to a life fully lived. For the researcher it also invites insight into the special problems faced by the aged in maintaining a positive sense of self as previously relied on indicators like social roles, may no longer apply. My research is also "in progress", and is facilitated by the use of personal narratives elicited through taped interviews and the personal writings of a sample group of elderly people living in a retirement country club on the Gold Coast. Generously sharing with me their time and their life stories, I have become apprentice to their role as "master", learning from those who go before me. I am exploring the possibility that these elderly people not only articulate, but also construct and reconstruct their concepts of self through narrative (Peacock and Holland 1993) shaped by cultural and social influences. Many of the participants in this research are engaged in, or have already written their memoirs, necessitating a self examination of their life's progress from earliest memory to most recent times; a "progression" in terms of having moved forward from a starting point, but not always on to better things. Their resourcefulness in the face of diminishing social status and redundancy is testament to the prevailing human spirit. Biography:Originally from Melbourne, my family and I came to the Gold Coast in 1984 where I began my long fascination with Anthropology, first as an Open Learning student in 1992, and then as an under-graduate and honours off-campus student through Deakin University in Geelong, Victoria. I embarked on my current doctoral research as an Australian Post Graduate Scholarship recipient eighteen months ago, with a completion date in March 2004. |
 |
