Approaches to Old Age
Guest Editors: Sarah Falcus (Huddersfield) and Maricel Oró Piqueras (Lleida)
The final decades of the twentieth century saw the rise of humanistic or cultural gerontology, and this has continued apace into the twenty-first century. Interest in English Studies has ranged across the disciplines and beyond, establishing connections with biomedicine, sociology and politics. This work includes studies and creative projects that both analyse and produce visual representations of ageing, from photography to film. In linguistics, explorations of language attrition in Alzheimer’s Disease provide humanistic perspectives on the experience and treatment of this form of dementia. Literary studies has seen explorations of the affect value of literary and cultural texts and analyses of the intersections of ageing and gender, race, sexuality and disability. There is also much work on late-life creativity and late style.
This issue seeks to extend the variety and multiplicity of approaches in cultural gerontology, contributing to the dialogue between English Studies and Ageing Studies. We welcome contributions that explore old age across the full range of literary and cultural forms.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- the ageing body
- approaching old age
- genre and age
- ageing readers/audiences
- ageing as a cultural anxiety
- old age across history
- picturing old age
- ageing and loss of language
- language use and Alzheimer’s Disease
Detailed proposals (600-1,000 words) for essays of no more than 7,500 words, as well as any inquiries regarding this issue, should be sent to both editors: Sarah Falcus and Maricel Oró Piqueras.
Potential contributors are reminded that EJES operates a two-stage review process. The first is based on the submission of proposals and results in invitations to submit full essays from which a final selection is then made. THE DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS IS 31 OCTOBER 2016, WITH DELIVERY OF COMPLETED ESSAYS BY 31 MARCH 2017.