It is nice to be young but it is not small success to get old

Abstract

Stereotypes of neglecting the elderly and no gratefulness of the young generation that have been appeared from the antique period were incentive to pose the question about the universality of the differences in perceptions among old people and the young. The subject of the interest in the paper were the attitudes towards the elderly people and getting old that were present in comments of Duško Radović, written from 1975 to 1982 year, and published in books “Belgrade, good morning”. Comments about the elderly, getting old and the old were separated from all others (153 from the total of 2236 comments) and categorized into following themes: “family life” (N=22,9%), “generation differences”(N=19,0%), “appearance and health”(N=15,7%), “the purpose of the life”(N=11,1%), “values and society”(N=10,4%), “work and pension”(N=7,8%), “attitude toward death”(N=7,2%), and “sadness for the past”(N=5,9%). Content analysis showed that the young were criticized for their selfishness and neglecting their old parents, though the old people were seen guilty for the failure of their children. Some comments pointed to the misunderstanding and no tolerance among the elderly people and the young, but the others comments contained opportunity for the intergeneration coexistence. Other comments showed that in the process of getting old the physical appearance and health were changing inevitably and the ideals from the youth were withdrawn, but it was insisting on worthily life up to its end. In the discussion of the study findings the separation of the concept of generation differences from the concept of generation gap was suggested. It was concluded that generation differences are universal, though actual generation gap is looking for greater societal engagement in order to raise mutual understanding among the elderly people and the young.

Stereotipije o zanemarivanju starih i nezahvalnosti mladih javljaju se još kod antičkih autora, pa se postavlja pitanje koliko su razlike u međusobnoj percepciji starih i mladih univerzalne. Predmet interesovanja u ovom radu su stavovi o starima i starenju koji su sadržani u komentarima Duška Radovića, nastalim u periodu od 1975-82. godine, i objavljeni u knjigama “Beograde, dobro jutro”. Izdvojeni su komentari o starima, starenju i starom, koji su kategorisani u tematske oblasti: porodični život, generacijske razlike, izgled i zdravlje, smisao života, vrednosti i društvo, rad i penzija, odnos prema smrti i žal za starim. Analiza sadržaja otkriva da se mladima zamera što su koristoljubivi i što zanemaruju stare roditelje, a na stare se prebacuje krivica za neuspehe dece. Deo komentara ukazuje na nerazumevanje i netrpeljivost između mladih i starih, dok drugi deo govori o mogućnostima za međugeneracijsku koegzistenciju. Dalji komentari ukazuju na to da se sa starenjem fizički izgled i zdravlje neumitno menjaju, da se odustaje od mladalačkih ideala ali insistira na dostojanstvenom životu. U diskusiji rezultata predloženo je razlikovanje generacijskih razlika od generacijskog jaza. Zaključeno je da su generacijske razlike univerzalne, dok generacijski jaz u aktuelnoj situaciji zahteva veće angažovanje društva na unapređenju razumevanja starijih i mlađih.