SPECIFICS OF INTERGENERATIONAL CONFLICT IN MODERN AMERICAN DRAMA (A CASE STUDY OF THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, THE OLDEST LIVING GRADUATE, BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY)

Abstract

The subject of the paper is the way of tackling late adulthood in terms of intergenerational conflicts in three plays of modern US drama. In the framework of literary gerontology the author of the article studies current views on the subject provided by British scolars (M.Hepworth, M.Mangan, J.King). A sociological perspective suggests a methodological instrument of the solidary-conflict model as an emergent construct of intergenetational ambivalence (Giarrusso, Bengtson, Lowenstein). The topic of the research is the study of specifics of intergenerational relationships between aging parents and their adult children in plays by Horton Foote, Preston Jones and Stephen Guirgis. The topic is relevant to the increasing interest to the aging studies. The goal is to understand better the difficulties of late adulthood in intergenerational conflicts and the ways of their solution. The thorough analysis of the texts in question demonstrates the efficiency of the solidarity-conflict model in the system of characters. Some elderly protagonists (Carrie Watts and Walter “Pops”) take journeys literally and psychologically. On the basis of Waxman’s concept of Reifungsroman the author of the article claims that metaphorical journeys lead the main characters to self-development and self-knowledge in their old age. The methods used in the paper are mixed: historical data processing, analyses of interdisciplinary resources (literary gerontology, social gerontology, age studies, age psychology, etc). The innovative solution lies in the application of interdisciplinary approach to close reading of drama texts. The results can be practical for classes of US literature and social gerontology. The findings of the paper inform of the intergenerational interaction on behalf of older parents in their widowhood. A promising application will be to study the specifics of intergenerational conflicts beoynd the context of the family: e.g., in the professional ambiance provided by the play “First Monday in October” by Lawrence and Lee.
Keywords: intergenerational conflict; solidarity-conflict; journey; elderly character; self-affirmation; late adulthood.