This dissertation is a narrative inquiry of the ways in which cultural values, norms, and expectations shape the aging experience of elderly adults living independently in Kasson, a small rural town in southeastern Minnesota, and within Prairie Meadows, Kasson's residential assisted living facility. Despite significant evidence of the reciprocal relationship between community connectedness, successful aging, and healthy communities, we know relatively little about the ways in which contextual meanings of old age influence long-term care and perceptions of well-being in late life. I therefore utilized a variety of interpretive methods, including participant observation, textual analysis, in-depth interviews, and photovoice, to complement and enlarge existing research. Ultimately, I engaged crystallization methodology to co-construct with my participants a multivocal, multigenre text of layered accounts, photographs, stories, and personal reflections. My research design and presentation highlight the inherent possibilities of participatory methods, aesthetic ways of knowing, and asset-based community development for influencing policy and practice at individual, community, and societal levels with typically disenfranchised populations in future communication scholarship. My narrative analysis uncovered three overarching narratives - the "small town" narrative, the "aging in place" narrative, and the "old age" narrative - that guide communicative practices within and between Kasson and Prairie Meadows. Overall, elderly adults in these communities negotiate community connectedness in late life by drawing from or re-storying each of the three narratives. First, they co-construct personal and relational identities through social interactions and shared understandings (e.g., civic engagement, church membership, neighborliness, collective history) of what it means to live in a small town. Second, they face uncertainty (e.g., health and dependency issues) by turning to the past to make sense of the present and future. Third, they embrace old age through membership in age-specific contexts (e.g., Red Hats, senior center, Prairie Meadows) while resisting it in others (e.g., tensions between independence, isolation, and communal life). In total, their stories illuminate the ways in which personal meanings and cultural ideologies support and constrain interactions and decisions in late life as individuals strive for long-term living and a meaningful, supportive place in which to grow old.

Thesis (M.A.)--Missouri State University, 2009. / "May 2009." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-80). Also available online.

A dissertação trata dos aspectos iconográficos da chamada Terceira Idade (art.1º, Lei 70.741/2003) em que idosos são retratados em comunicações marcárias e suas imagens são divulgadas nas mídias sociais, isto é, em páginas de fãs da rede social Facebook, blogs, comunidades virtuais, sites e portais. A análise da representação visual de pessoas com 60 anos ou mais visa entender como a publicidade mobiliza estereótipos da velhice por meio de mensagens visuais. Compreender a imagem dos idosos produzida na publicidade digital sugere reunir estudiosos das temáticas: Comunicação e Envelhecimento (Featherstone; Hareven; Debert), Mídias Sociais (Lévy; Shirky; Recuero), Imagem e Marcas (Kapferer; Kotler; Souza) e Iconografia (Panofsky; Morris). Com vistas a atingir o objetivo investigativo, foi adotada a metodologia de pesquisa em cinco etapas: revisão bibliográfica, observação empírica, protocolo de análise, interpretação de dados e categorização iconográfica. O corpus empírico é constituído por 766 comunicações marcárias de nove marcas organizadas por núcleo de marcas públicas - Banco do Brasil, Governo de Santa Catarina e Governo de São Paulo; núcleo de marcas privadas - Dove, Itaú e Nestlé; e núcleo de marcas de mídias de conteúdo - Aproveitando a Terceira Idade, Terceira Idade Conectada e Portal do Envelhecimento - publicadas entre junho de 2011 a dezembro de 2016. Como processo complementar, oito profissionais de comunicação e criação publicitária foram entrevistados e auxiliaram tanto a contextualizar a dinâmica de representação e publicação de imagens de idosos quanto a definir o período de investigação. Com o protocolo de análise, elaborado em cinco partes orientadas pelos três níveis de significados de Panofsky (1976) e pelas três dimensões téoricas de Morris (1985) foi possível obter resultados e inferências sobre a amostra que aponta a identificação de convenções sintático-semânticas tanto ao universo da Terceira Idade quanto aos valores publicitários. / The dissertation deals with the aspects\' iconographic of the so-called Third Age (art. 1º, Law 70.741 / 2003) in which elderly people are portrayed in branded communications and their images are published in social media, such as Facebook fan pages, blogs, virtual communities, websites and portals. In order to understand how advertising mobilizes elderly stereotypes in branded communications a great visual analysis was developed with the presence of persons aged 60 or over in companies and institutions\' portrayed. Understanding the image of the elderly produced in digital advertising suggests bringing together scholars from different areas: Communication and Ageing (Featherstone; Hareven; Debert), Social Media (Lévy; Shirky; Recuero), Image and Brands (Kapferer; Kotler; Souza) and Iconography (Panofsky; Morris). During the investigative process was adopted a methodology in five stages: an extensive review of the literature, empirical observation, establish an analysis protocol, quantitative and qualitative data analysis and interpretation and detailed iconographic categorisation. The empirical corpus is made of 766 examples of brand communications from nine brands organized by public core - Banco do Brasil, Governo de Santa Catarina and Governo de São Paulo; private core - Dove, Itaú and Nestlé; and content brands core - Aproveitando a Terceira Idade, Terceira Idade Conectada and Portal do Envelhecimento - published between June 2011 and December 2016. As a complementary process, eight communication professionals and advertising creation were interviewed and helped both to contextualize the dynamics of visual representation and publication of old people images as to define the period of investigation. With the analysis protocol which was elaborated in five parts guided by the three levels of meanings of Panofsky (1976) and by the three theoretical dimensions of Morris (1985), it was possible to obtain results and inferences about the sample that identifies the syntactic-semantic conventions both to the universe of the Third Age in terms of advertising values.

A dissertação trata dos aspectos iconográficos da chamada Terceira Idade (art.1º, Lei 70.741/2003) em que idosos são retratados em comunicações marcárias e suas imagens são divulgadas nas mídias sociais, isto é, em páginas de fãs da rede social Facebook, blogs, comunidades virtuais, sites e portais. A análise da representação visual de pessoas com 60 anos ou mais visa entender como a publicidade mobiliza estereótipos da velhice por meio de mensagens visuais. Compreender a imagem dos idosos produzida na publicidade digital sugere reunir estudiosos das temáticas: Comunicação e Envelhecimento (Featherstone; Hareven; Debert), Mídias Sociais (Lévy; Shirky; Recuero), Imagem e Marcas (Kapferer; Kotler; Souza) e Iconografia (Panofsky; Morris). Com vistas a atingir o objetivo investigativo, foi adotada a metodologia de pesquisa em cinco etapas: revisão bibliográfica, observação empírica, protocolo de análise, interpretação de dados e categorização iconográfica. O corpus empírico é constituído por 766 comunicações marcárias de nove marcas organizadas por núcleo de marcas públicas - Banco do Brasil, Governo de Santa Catarina e Governo de São Paulo; núcleo de marcas privadas - Dove, Itaú e Nestlé; e núcleo de marcas de mídias de conteúdo - Aproveitando a Terceira Idade, Terceira Idade Conectada e Portal do Envelhecimento - publicadas entre junho de 2011 a dezembro de 2016. Como processo complementar, oito profissionais de comunicação e criação publicitária foram entrevistados e auxiliaram tanto a contextualizar a dinâmica de representação e publicação de imagens de idosos quanto a definir o período de investigação. Com o protocolo de análise, elaborado em cinco partes orientadas pelos três níveis de significados de Panofsky (1976) e pelas três dimensões téoricas de Morris (1985) foi possível obter resultados e inferências sobre a amostra que aponta a identificação de convenções sintático-semânticas tanto ao universo da Terceira Idade quanto aos valores publicitários. / The dissertation deals with the aspects\' iconographic of the so-called Third Age (art. 1º, Law 70.741 / 2003) in which elderly people are portrayed in branded communications and their images are published in social media, such as Facebook fan pages, blogs, virtual communities, websites and portals. In order to understand how advertising mobilizes elderly stereotypes in branded communications a great visual analysis was developed with the presence of persons aged 60 or over in companies and institutions\' portrayed. Understanding the image of the elderly produced in digital advertising suggests bringing together scholars from different areas: Communication and Ageing (Featherstone; Hareven; Debert), Social Media (Lévy; Shirky; Recuero), Image and Brands (Kapferer; Kotler; Souza) and Iconography (Panofsky; Morris). During the investigative process was adopted a methodology in five stages: an extensive review of the literature, empirical observation, establish an analysis protocol, quantitative and qualitative data analysis and interpretation and detailed iconographic categorisation. The empirical corpus is made of 766 examples of brand communications from nine brands organized by public core - Banco do Brasil, Governo de Santa Catarina and Governo de São Paulo; private core - Dove, Itaú and Nestlé; and content brands core - Aproveitando a Terceira Idade, Terceira Idade Conectada and Portal do Envelhecimento - published between June 2011 and December 2016. As a complementary process, eight communication professionals and advertising creation were interviewed and helped both to contextualize the dynamics of visual representation and publication of old people images as to define the period of investigation. With the analysis protocol which was elaborated in five parts guided by the three levels of meanings of Panofsky (1976) and by the three theoretical dimensions of Morris (1985), it was possible to obtain results and inferences about the sample that identifies the syntactic-semantic conventions both to the universe of the Third Age in terms of advertising values.