Through an analysis of recent women’s writing in French, Professor Siobhán McIlvanney, Professor of French and Francophone Women's Writing in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, discusses the role of literature in both representing and fostering collaborative care.
In her lecture, Professor McIlvanney looked at texts representing ageing and care in recent women’s writing from the French and Francophone world. She explored the relationship between the carer and the cared for, beginning with Simone de Beauvoir's groundbreaking study on old age, La Vieillesse [Old Age], in which Beauvoir criticises the lack of opportunities for collaboration and interaction among older people in care homes.
Focusing on more recent care home narratives in French, Professor McIlvanney went on to suggest that reading literature about caring relations may help us to better understand our own ageing prospectively and to reflect on care as a lived, embodied practice.
Narratives of ageing represent a valuable - and still relatively rare - resource in providing insight into the multiple and varied subjective experiences of growing older. Telling life stories is an act of auto-affirmation, of reclaiming subjecthood for older people, who often remain biographically active far longer than they remain physically so. Reading these stories encourages us to reflect both on predominant social attitudes to ageing and on our own relationship to caring – which benefits all of us.
Professor Siobhán McIlvanney, Professor of French and Francophone Women's Writing
Professor McIlvanney spoke about the important role of care home narratives that are not only written about carers and residents but also by them in the form of co-authored stories. For the event, Professor McIlvanney interviewed Dr Catherine Schmutz-Brun, the founder of an innovative course at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, that trains applicants to become recueilleur/euses (professional story collectors).
These collectors work creatively and collaboratively with the residents of Swiss care homes to co-construct récits de vie (life stories). The writing and publication of these narratives contribute to the residents’ sense of validation and wellbeing and promote collaborative care within the home.
The event was introduced by Professor Catherine Boyle, Professor of Latin American Cultural Studies, with a response from Professor Shirley Jordan, Emerita Professor of French Studies at Newcastle University.
Professor McIlvanney’s lecture revealed the power of narratives about care for older people, as well as the importance of attending to older people’s life stories as an act of care. It was exemplary in highlighting how research in the humanities can intervene and help effect change in some of the most pressing issues faced by society. Her audience was gripped not only because her lecture was delivered with brio, but because narratives about ageing and care concern us all.
Shirley Jordan, Professor Emerita in French Studies, Newcastle University
