Ageism, Existential and Ontological: Reviewing Approaches toward the Abject with the Help of Millett, Hodgman, Lessing, and Roth

Abstract

In an important and provocative recent article, Paul Higgs and Chris Gilleard have linked ageism not only to structural and institutional practices but to deep-seated existential and ontological fears and horrors regarding deep old age, as crystallized in the social imaginary of the fourth age. This concept suggests the need to combat not just the more modifiable structures of ageism but also the murkier and therefore more obdurate cultural aspects, especially the association of deep old age with the abject. In this article, I suggest the writings of George Bataille may help reimagine the frailties, “uglinesses,” and filth associated with deep old age. Exploring literary memoir and fiction by a range of writers through the prism of Bataille’s work, I consider how this new approach to abjection can undermine ageism and also serve as a gateway to a more meaningful vision of both old age and the life course itself.