Belligerent Legends: Bickering and Feuding among Outport Octogenarians

ABSTRACT In a southwest coast Newfoundland fishing village elderly outporters are accorded special licence to behave in ways considered inappropriate for younger generations. Capitalising on their status as folk heroes and heroines of traditional outport culture, older people challenge each other to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ageing and Society
Main Author: Davis, Donna Lee
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1985
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x00012010
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0144686X00012010
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT In a southwest coast Newfoundland fishing village elderly outporters are accorded special licence to behave in ways considered inappropriate for younger generations. Capitalising on their status as folk heroes and heroines of traditional outport culture, older people challenge each other to redress old wrongs or actively create new issues for dispute. The entire family may reluctantly become involved in these imbroglios. This case study of a land feud between an elderly woman and man demonstrates how aggression is mediated by the structural confines of local sex roles and outport egalitarianism, which severely limit the potential of octogenarians' altercations to disrupt village life.