GNED 1201: Death in Literature - Aging and Controlling Death

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key terminology, literary figures, and medical/legal acts related to aging and death in literature, including specific works by Alice Munro, Norimitsu Onishi, and Jennifer Bowering Delisle.

Rüdiger Kunow's Definition of Aging

Describes aging not as biological or chronological, but as "the difference that time makes on a person’s sense of identity."

Gerontology

A multidisciplinary field that draws on biological, social, and human sciences to understand the process of growing old.

Narrative Gerontology

A branch of study that highlights the subjective experiences of individuals by focusing on personal narratives rather than solely biological aspects.

Frailty

Explicitly defined as a medical risk and a "vulnerable and unpredictable state" within aging discourse.

Robert Oppenheimer

A theoretical physicist known as the "father of the atomic bomb" who led the team at Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Krishna's Manifestation (Bhagavad Gita)

The divine form that declares, "I am Time, the destroyer of all," and "Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds."

Alice Munro

Canadian writer and winner of the Nobel Prize of Literature, described as the "master of the contemporary short story."

"The Bear Came Over the Mountain"

A short story by Alice Munro focused on aging and dementia; it was adapted into the film Away From Her in 2006.

Fiona (Character)

The protagonist in Munro's story who enters a clinic; she is described as appearing with "a spark of life" and exhibiting agency until her cognitive decline.

Aubrey (Character)

The man at the clinic whom Fiona begins helping, giving her a new purpose as a "nurse" figure in her new social environment.

Marian (Character)

Aubrey's wife who cannot afford to keep him in the private clinic permanently, representing the economic disparities in elder care.

Norimitsu Onishi

Canadian journalist for The New York Times and Pulitzer Prize winner who wrote the article "A Lonely Death."

Tokiwadaira, Japan

The location of an apartment complex that became a "demographic crucible of increasing age and declining births."

Kusaya

A type of dried fish mentioned in "A Lonely Death" when neighbors initially confuse its smell with that of a decomposing body.

Mrs. Ito

The "humanizing force" in Onishi's article who uses a window screen to signal to neighbors that she is still alive.

Social Death

A concept described as separate from physical death, where an individual's identity or emotional connection to Others is lost while they are still alive.

Jennifer Bowering Delisle

Canadian author of the creative non-fiction essay "Passage," which appears in her collection Micrographia.

Bill C-14

The Medical Assistance in Dying Act (MAiD) passed in 2016, which requires a person to have an incurable illness and be in an advanced state of irreversible decline.

Thantos

A term used in "Passage" to refer to death; the narrator notes "Thantos has quietly scooped my mother up."

"Passage" (Historical definition)

In the early 13th century, it meant "the action of crossing from one place to another; a going over or through something."

Shawn Christensen

The writer and director of the 2012 Oscar-winning short film Curfew.