Böcker av João Paulo Guimarães

In the genre of horror, elderly people are often used as a trope to evoke both a fear of death and a fear of aging. Old age is therefore equated with bodily, mental, or social decline. The contributors of this book investigate what exactly we are afraid of when we posit old age as a source of horror. The aim is to harness the thrills and pleasures of horror to think about how quality of life can be improved in old age and how elderly people can be better integrated in our ever fearful and suspicious societies.

The sustained expansion of the life span and the attendant demographic changes in the West have fuelled the production of cultural texts that explore alternative representations of aging and old age. The contributors to this volume show how artists in science-fiction, fantasy and the avant-garde develop visions of late life transformation, improvisation and adaptation to new circumstances. The studies particularly focus on perspectives on aging that challenge the predominant narratives of decline as well as fantasies of eternal youth, as defined by neoliberal notions of health, able-bodiedness, agency, self-improvement, progress, plasticity and productivity.