The Embodiment of Vulnerability
A Case Study of the Life and Love of Leoš Janáček and his Opera The Makropulos Case
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3809263 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Steven P Wainwright (School of Nursing, King’s College, London, corresponding author), Clare Williams (0000-0001-6315-5534, School of Nursing, King’s College, London) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 27-41 |
| Publication date | 2005-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Body & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1357-034X • E-ISSN: 1460-3632 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1357034x05056189 |
| OpenAlex | W1980330722 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 42 |
In this article we focus upon the embodiment of vulnerability as an area in which medicine, society and the humanities can be profitably conjoined. We illustrate our argument with two interrelated case studies of narratives of the embodiment of ageing and longevity. First, we draw upon Leoš Janáček's opera The Makropulos Case (1926) as a locus for debates about human longevity. Second, we discuss 70-year-old Janáček's decade of unrequited love for a woman 37 years younger than himself, through an examination of their intimate letters. We suggest that both the opera and elements of Janáček's biography illuminate the passionate emotions that are often hidden behind 'the mask of ageing'. Finally, we propose that a focus on the embodiment of vulnerability is a productive catalyst for research on narratives of ageing
Aesthetics · Art · Biography · Literature · Longevity · Narrative · Opera · Sociology · Aging and Gerontology Research · Computer Science · Medicine · Gerontology
Disciplining old age
Over her dead body
Ageing and the emotions
The Life Story Interview
The Mask of Ageing and the Postmodern Life Course
Embodiment and experience
Modernity and self-identity
Problems of the Self
Images of Aging
Modernity and Self-Identity
Biographical Research
Death, Desire and Loss in Western Culture
Emotions in Social Life
The Turn to Biographical Methods in Social Science
The Social Body
Embodying the Monster
Causing Death and Saving Lives
Reflections on embodiment and vulnerability
Narratives of identity among former professional footballers in the United Kingdom
Resisting the ‘mask’ of old age
I Don't Feel Old’
Janacek's Operas
Social Histories of Old Age and Aging
Interpretive Interactionism
Documents of life 2
Regulating Bodies
Ageing and Biography
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2025 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |