Caddick Nick, McGill Gill, Greaves Jane, Kiernan Matthew D
Veterans and Families Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford Campus, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford CM1 1SQ, UK.
Department of Healthcare, Northumbria University, Coach Lane Campus East, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE7 7XA, UK.
J Aging Stud. 2018 Sep;46:24-31. doi: 10.1016/j.jaging.2018.06.002. Epub 2018 Jun 22.
'Maintaining independence' is a core project for many older people; a project which has received critical attention within aging studies. In this paper, we extend the critique by exploring how aging intersects with disability and militarism as additional critical subjectivities. The empirical focus of the paper is the narratives of older military veterans who had lost a limb either during or post-service. Data reveal the long legacy of military experience in the lives of these veterans; a legacy which is manifested in both negative and positive outcomes. A dominant narrative of 'struggling against decline' is identified, while 'minimization', 'victimhood', and 'life-as-normal' emerged as further narrative types through which veterans articulated their experiences of aging with limb loss. Findings from this study highlight both resilience and vulnerability as features of older veterans' experiences of aging with limb loss. Building on previous critiques, we add further nuance to understandings of how older people might respond to the narrative of decline, and illustrate multiple possible meanings of claims to 'normality'. By sharing the stories of older limbless veterans, we aim to contribute to - and connect - several fields of study including aging studies, critical disability studies, and critical military studies. Findings are discussed in light of current trends in each of these fields.
“保持独立”是许多老年人的核心目标；这一目标在老年学研究中受到了批判性关注。在本文中，我们通过探讨衰老如何与残疾和军国主义相互交织，将其作为另外的批判性主体性，来扩展这种批判。本文的实证重点是那些在服役期间或退役后失去肢体的老年退伍军人的叙述。数据揭示了军事经历在这些退伍军人生活中的长期影响；这种影响在负面和正面结果中都有体现。我们识别出一种“与衰退作斗争”的主导叙述，而“最小化”“受害者身份”和“正常生活”则作为退伍军人表达其肢体缺失后衰老经历的进一步叙述类型出现。这项研究的结果凸显了复原力和脆弱性，它们是老年退伍军人肢体缺失后衰老经历的特征。在之前批判的基础上，我们进一步细化了对老年人如何回应衰退叙述的理解，并阐明了“正常”说法的多种可能含义。通过分享无肢体老年退伍军人的故事，我们旨在为包括老年学研究、批判性残疾研究和批判性军事研究在内的多个研究领域做出贡献并建立联系。我们根据这些领域各自的当前趋势对研究结果进行了讨论。
