Culture and ageing: reflections on the arts and nursing.
AIM; In this paper, we focus on ageing as an area in which nursing, society and the humanities can be profitably conjoined. We illustrate our argument with three case studies of ageing: in painting, opera and ballet.


BACKGROUND
There has been a recent spectacular increase in papers devoted to the relatively new field of the medical humanities. We argue for a similar renaissance in thinking about the connections between the arts and nursing.


CONCLUSIONS
First, we consider the paintings of J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) as examples of loss, ageing and death. Second, we draw upon Leos Janácek's opera 'The Makropulos Case' (1926) as a focus for debate about human mortality. Third, we review some ethnographic research on the balletic body as an example of cultures of youthful ageing.


CONCLUSIONS
A focus on the embodiment of vulnerability is a productive catalyst for research on the intimate connections between self and society, biology and culture, and reason and emotion. Such a research agenda would be the hallmark of a holistic approach to the arts and nursing.
Wainwright
Steven P
SP
Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, King's College London, London, UK. steven.wainwright@kcl.ac.uk
Williams
Clare
C
D000375:Aging; D001154:Art; D003469:Culture; D006801:Humans; D009729:Nursing