say a few words about

The third edition of Norton Theory and Criticism in 2018 incorporated age criticism into the field of biopolitics research, emphasizing its importance in the context of global population aging. Age criticism aims to expose and criticize discrimination against specific age groups, especially the elderly. American gerontologist Butler proposed the concept of "age discrimination", and the academic community further developed terms such as critical gerontology, humanistic gerontology, literary gerontology, and geriatric narratology, enriching the connotation of age criticism. Age criticism focuses on the cultural construction of Western age views and individual age identity issues. Simone de Beauvoir explores the cultural construction of age in "On Old Age," and Gretel points out that mainstream Western culture constructs the narrative of aging as a narrative of decline. Feminist critics focus on the impact of age narratives on women, especially older women, such as Gilman, Simone de Beauvoir, and Sontag. Woodward analyzes the psychological characteristics of elderly individuals in Western society, particularly in modernist literature, in his book 'Aging and Its Discontent'. Randall and other narrators proposed the concept of geriatric narratology, attempting to construct positive geriatric narratives to combat declining geriatric narratives.

review

In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the Global Report on Age Discrimination, which defined age discrimination for the first time, analyzed the phenomenon of age discrimination worldwide, and proposed corresponding countermeasures. The report defines age discrimination as stereotypes, biases, and discrimination based on age, and points out that this discrimination often intersects with other forms of discrimination, exacerbating the impact on individual health and well-being. In the past 20 years, criticism of age discrimination, especially ageism, has once again received attention in the fields of humanities and social sciences. In 2005, the annual meeting of the American Women's Studies Association focused on elderly research. In 2006, the Journal of the National Women's Studies Association launched a special issue on elderly research to explore the relationship between feminism and elderly research. In 2018, the European Journal of English Studies published a special issue on aging research, and in 2019, the Journal of American Fiction published a column discussing aging issues in American literature and literary criticism. Age criticism has interdisciplinary characteristics and involves multiple fields. Scholars explore the attitudes of Western society towards age by analyzing the images of elderly people in literary works.

conclusion

Age criticism has practical significance and theoretical value in literary research, especially in the context of global aging, which helps to reveal and change the phenomenon of age discrimination. The World Health Organization advocates for increased visibility and attention to age discrimination, and age criticism responds to this issue at both macro and micro levels, deconstructing the discourse of decline and constructing a discourse of progressive aging that focuses on the psychological identity and life value of elderly individuals. Age criticism is closely related to literary research. By analyzing the images of the elderly in literary works and interpreting the views and influences of the elderly in different historical periods, it has become a new direction in literary research. Contemporary writers' works that focus on the issue of aging, such as "Middle aged Progressive Novels," have contributed to age criticism and research on aging.