Межпоколенческая коммуникация

The book offers a comprehensive review of intergenerational communication. It is divided into a preface, an introduction, six chapters, and concluding comments: Chapter 1 examines theoretical frameworks in the study of intergenerational communication. In Chapter 2, factors of intergenerational communication are discussed. Chapter 3 contains a sociolinguistic study of intergenerational communication and its perception in Russia, and Chapter 4 is a sociolinguistic study of usage and understanding of religious words by people of different ages, Chapter 5 presents examples, problems, and solutions of intergenerational communication; Chapter 6 investigates ways to overcome the intergenerational barrier in communication.

The introduction states that intergenerational communication is a relatively new field in communication research, particularly in Russia, where no major studies based on communication among people of different ages have been published. The author argues that the age of participants is an important factor that influences the frequency and process of communication as well as the interlocutor’s level of satisfaction.

Chapter 1 provides an overview of the theoretical foundations of intergenerational communication research: the intergroup theory (Tajfel 1981; Turner 1986), the social exchange theory (Roloff 1981, 1987), the communication accommodation theory (Street & Giles 1982; William & Giles 1996), the communication predicament of aging model (Ryen et al. 1986), and the stereotype activation model (Hummert 1994). Each review presents essential findings in their respective areas of research and discusses them in the light of intergenerational communication research. The author contends that the combination of theories or models can provide an integrated approach to the study of intergenerational communication.

Chapter 2 analyzes some important factors relating to intergenerational communication. It starts with age as a category in historical development, focusing on recent changes in the demographic situation in the world and on the aging population in the lute 20^th and 21^st centuries. The author then investigates the position of the elderly in post-Soviet Russia and traces alterations in family structure, changes in the status of various groups of people, variations in adaptation to new market realities, and corresponding changes in communication styles. For example, the chapter asserts that changes in the material well-being and status of the Russian elderly may have translated into modifications of intergenerational communication puttems. The chapter examines research on familial intergenerational communication (grandparent-grandchild) and non-familial communication (with police officers, doctors, and educators) in an intergenerational context, highlighting communicative difficulties in various settings and providing examples of communication observed and recorded in Russia, particularly examples of over-accommodation in care-giving and community settings. Previous studies suggest that aspects of intergenerational communication in some East Asian nations may be more problematic than in some Western ones (Giles et al., 2001). The chapter reviews and summarizes research on perceptions of intergenerational communication and compares communication patterns in Western and Eastern countries where scholars noted significant differences in views on communication and aging. The chapter also deals with aging stereotypes and their reflection in intergenerational communication.