Rhetoric Review Jan 2017

Older Adults as Rhetorical Agents: A Rhetorical Critique of Metaphors for Aging in Public Health Discourse

Kathryn Yankura Swacha Purdue University West Lafayette

Abstract

Building on current theories of rhetorical agency, this essay analyzes two metaphors for aging found in public health information materials targeted to the elderly—aging is ageless and aging is pathology—concerning how these metaphors frame agency for older adults. The metaphors attribute limited agency to older adults by emphasizing short-term, biomedical solutions and expert knowledge and by not representing agency as situational, dynamic, and co-constructed. Exploring the limits of these metaphors both further exposes how public health discourse shapes the cultural perception of aging and offers an expanded understanding of older adults as dynamic rhetorical agents.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
2017-01-02
DOI
10.1080/07350198.2017.1246013
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Topics
modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

  1. Johnson (2025)
    Rhetoric Re-View: Five Approaches to Rhetorical Agency
    Rhetoric Review
  2. Swacha (2021)
    Living Visual-voice as a Community-based Social Justice Research Method in Tech…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Bowen (2018)
    Composing a Further Life: Introduction to the Special Issue
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  4. Teems (2018)
    The Writing Ecologies of Older American Activists
    Literacy in Composition Studies

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CrossRef global citation count: 9 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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