Age and Its Metaphors

This chapter explores metaphors of aging and dementia and begins with a survey of the existing research on age and dementia metaphors by scholars in age studies, who have shown that older people are repeatedly described with problematic metaphors of decline, doom, burden, or natural catastrophe. The chapter then asks to what extent these problematic metaphors can be spaces not only of ageism, degradation, and stigmatization, but also of agency, creativity, and pleasure. In suggesting an approach to metaphors that is inspired by concepts of use and usability and that draws on Margaret Morganroth Gullette’s work on fashion cycles, the chapter explores the semantic variability of metaphors by looking at practices of repair and recycling. Two examples—Philip Roth’s autobiography Patrimony: A True Story (1991) and Roz Chast’s graphic memoir Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? (2014)—illustrate the potential of creatively reusing and productively reimagining harmful metaphors of older age, such as decline and defeat. The chapter concludes by suggesting how the insights of an age-sensitive analysis can, in turn, be applied to metaphor theory.