An Examination of Old Age Through Mina Urgan’s Eyes: Indicators of Gerotranscendence in “Memories of A Dinosaur” and “Travels of A Dinosaur”

Year 2024, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 45 - 52, 29.12.2024

Deniz Pamuk , Fatma Sıla Ayan , Mustafa Cihan Camcı

https://doi.org/10.51819/jaltc.2024.1473496

Abstract

Narratives about life are significant for understanding and evaluating the aging process. Biographical narratives of famous thinkers and writers appear as materials that provide essential resources in this respect. Mina Urgan was a Turkish professor of English Literature, writer, philologist, and translator. She was born in 1915, in the last period of the Ottoman Empire, and witnessed the founding process of the Republic of Türkiye. In addition to her professional works, her autobiographical books titled “Memories of a Dinosaur” (1998) and “Travels of a Dinosaur” (1999) have become extremely popular in Türkiye. This study examined signs of gerotranscendence in these two autobiographical sources. In addition to Urgan's statements accepting that she has transcended the cosmic time she lives in and is a temporary bridge between generations, her social functionality and transcultural perspective, and how this perspective is reflected in her psychological well-being, appear as examples of gerotranscendence.

Keywords

Mina Urgan, Autobiography, Gerotranscendence, Positive Aging, Narrative Gerontology

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