Abstract

Narratives of Old Age and Gender: Multi-disciplinary Perspectives asks, do our stories of ageing imagine the experience of late life differently for women and men? How is the figure of the older man or woman understood within different periods, societies, and cultural forms? By addressing representations of ageing masculinity and femininity, we ask how cultural artifacts and personal narratives can be crucial for gerontological debates and histories, and, conversely, how studies of gender are enriched by attending to the category of age. The special issue brings together leading scholars from literary studies, history, theatre studies, psychology, sociology, fashion, and film studies, creative practitioners, and a third-sector expert. It takes a broad historical perspective, with research spanning from the nineteenth century, a moment crucial to modern debates about ageing, to the present when these questions have become yet more prominent as a result of the Covid-19 health crisis of 2020.