Vocabulary and dementia in six novelists
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Ian Lancashire
Abstract
Previous longitudinal studies of modern novelists Iris Murdoch and Agatha Christie indicate that a dramatic loss of vocabulary, and an increase in repeated phrases, mark incipient dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease. A new case study of detective-fiction writer Ross Macdonald (1915–1930, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s), also shows these language impairments. They are absent in late works by children’s writer Enid Blyton (1897–1968), although she had a juvenile vocabulary and was diagnosed with presenile dementia, not Alzheimer’s. All four writers nonetheless mismanage story development and tend to fictionalize autobiography. Three ‘healthy’ control writers lacking these markers, Frank Baum (of ‘Oz’ fame), James Hilton (Goodbye, Mr. Chips), and R.A. Freeman (the Dr Thorndyke detective series), show that advanced old age need not end in dementia.
Abstract
Previous longitudinal studies of modern novelists Iris Murdoch and Agatha Christie indicate that a dramatic loss of vocabulary, and an increase in repeated phrases, mark incipient dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease. A new case study of detective-fiction writer Ross Macdonald (1915–1930, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s), also shows these language impairments. They are absent in late works by children’s writer Enid Blyton (1897–1968), although she had a juvenile vocabulary and was diagnosed with presenile dementia, not Alzheimer’s. All four writers nonetheless mismanage story development and tend to fictionalize autobiography. Three ‘healthy’ control writers lacking these markers, Frank Baum (of ‘Oz’ fame), James Hilton (Goodbye, Mr. Chips), and R.A. Freeman (the Dr Thorndyke detective series), show that advanced old age need not end in dementia.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of abbreviations vii
- Investigating the lifespan perspective 1
- Disassociating the effects of age from phonetic change 9
- Phonological variation in real time 39
- Language production in late life 59
- Vocabulary and dementia in six novelists 77
- A sociolinguistic perspective on vocabulary richness in a seven-year comparison of older adults 109
- Age-related variation and language change in Early Modern English 129
- Lifespan and linguistic awareness 147
- Tired mind or tired hand? 167
- Kriegsausbruch, Kriegs Ausbruch, KriegsAusbruch 189
- Index 231
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of abbreviations vii
- Investigating the lifespan perspective 1
- Disassociating the effects of age from phonetic change 9
- Phonological variation in real time 39
- Language production in late life 59
- Vocabulary and dementia in six novelists 77
- A sociolinguistic perspective on vocabulary richness in a seven-year comparison of older adults 109
- Age-related variation and language change in Early Modern English 129
- Lifespan and linguistic awareness 147
- Tired mind or tired hand? 167
- Kriegsausbruch, Kriegs Ausbruch, KriegsAusbruch 189
- Index 231
