Sixth Digital DACH Victorianists Workshop - Ageing, Progress, and Decline, 06 December 2024

By the end of the Victorian era, the ‘decline narrative’ of ageing (Gullette) seemed firmly established in the zeitgeist, whether in fictional accounts that used the aged figure to personify an exhausted century or in the political usage of younger persons as the symbolic vehicle for progress and futurity. But other instances paint a more complex picture: aged characters rejuvenated by ‘youthful’ love plots; medical accounts that emphasise post-menopausal women’s gains in strength and energy; and social commentaries that view the reproductive capacity of youth as a source of national decline rather than salvation.
This one-day workshop aims to explore what is gained for Victorian studies by bringing together topics of age and ageing with those of progress and decline. It is especially interested in cases that ‘write against’ the truisms of old-age loss and youthful gain, and ageing-as-decline, to spotlight a more complicated or contingent reality. The wider aim is to recover and reflect upon output that has exerted a strong legacy on contemporary experiences of age and ageing, and through which we might reconsider present-day debates about the opportunities and limits that can accompany the ageing process.
The workshop will take place on December 06, 2024. Please find the full CfP here. Proposals of c. 150 to 300 words, as well as a short bio and contact information, are to be sent to the organiser Dr James Aaron Green.

We look forward to meeting colleagues old and new in December - as always, feel free to pass our invitation on to any colleagues who might be interested in joining DACH Victorianists or redirect them to our website. Many thanks!