A1 Journal article (refereed)
Everyday life and the new shapes of identities : The different meanings of ‘things that did not happen’ in the lives of Finnish older persons during the pandemic (2022)

Leinonen, E. (2022). Everyday life and the new shapes of identities : The different meanings of ‘things that did not happen’ in the lives of Finnish older persons during the pandemic. Journal of Aging Studies, 62, Article 101052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2022.101052

JYU authors or editors

Leinonen, Emilia

Publication details

All authors or editors: Leinonen, Emilia

Journal or series: Journal of Aging Studies

ISSN: 0890-4065

eISSN: 1879-193X

Publication year: 2022

Publication date: 22/06/2022

Volume: 62

Article number: 101052

Publisher: Elsevier

Publication country: United States

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2022.101052

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/82546

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our lives in many ways since the end of 2019. This paper investigates the everyday lives of Finnish older persons during the first three months of the pandemic when they were required to stay in “quarantine-like conditions.” The study utilises the ‘sociology of nothing’ in exploring the meanings of nothingness in the everyday lives of older people; that is, the things, events and people that were absent from their lives because of the pandemic. The main interest of the article is to reverse the typical analytical focus from ‘things that happened’ to ‘things that did not happen’ and to shed light on the experiences and descriptions of older persons' unlived lives. The article presents empirical findings from written letters collected between April and June 2020 from persons aged 70 or over (n = 77). The letters were analysed with theory-driven content analysis. The paper suggests that the unlived life; that is, not having, not being and not doing, generated feelings of otherness from the social world, but also freedom from obligations. Furthermore, the present article gives a sense of how old age is depicted in Finnish society and by the older persons themselves.

Keywords: older people; experiences (knowledge); pandemics; COVID-19; everyday; social isolation; coping; life; quality of life; emptiness; loneliness; care for the elderly