Postcolonial theory and old age: An explorative essay

Abstract

In this paper, I will present a reading of senior life through the lens of postcolonial theory. Even while this body of theory is as varied as the life experience summarized under the label “old age”, such a project promises mutually fruitful results. Postcolonialism's preoccupation with positional difference, subalternity and the abiding influence of the hegemon over what it discards as other can be helpful in overcoming the often merely chronological or individualized understanding of the last stages of the life course. At the same time, some of the blind spots of postcolonial thinking, its alleged culturalism, can be amended by a sustained attention to the materiality of senior life. My reading will therefore address postcolonial aspects of old age in terms of concrete locations in the Global South and it will also offer a brief reflection on the theoretical challenges presenting themselves at the intersection of these two theory complexes.