OMG! SUNSET YEARS? SERIOUSLY? 💜

OMG! SUNSET YEARS? SERIOUSLY? 💜

Why It’s Time to Retire Such Ageist Metaphors

#newspaperinlearning

I guess, in a long time, I’ve given the title for this post in All Caps!

With a purpose at that! 😊

In the context of digital communication (be it texting, email or social media), using all capital letters while texting or blogging, is widely understood as “shouting” or “expressing annoyance”.

For example, if someone asks Kumar, “Where are you?” and Kumar replies, “I am COMING,” the emphasis on “COMING” suggests that Kumar is annoyed by the question.

So yes! why did I then use All Caps to the Title of this blogpost!??? 😊

Well, I happened to read an article in today’s Chennai Edition of The Times of India, on the rapidly ageing demographic shift in Tamil Nadu. Although the article is in good taste with a gentle tone, the use of the pejorative label, ‘SUNSET YEARS’ to refer to the elderly, isn’t!!!

Academics and research scholars working in the field of Literary Gerontology, I’m sure would find the phrase highly ‘outmoded’ and lacking in empathy!

Hence this post!

Based on the theoretical postulates of Literary Gerontology – an interdisciplinary field of study that examines how ageing is represented in texts and cultural narratives - this news analysis in today’s Times of India, offers a fascinating, albeit troubling, case study on the elderly population in Tamil Nadu.

The metaphor of “Sunset Years” is testament to the generic construction of old age in popular media.

The metaphor tends to associate adulthood and productivity with “Day” (light, visibility, activity) and old age with “Sunset” (the fading of light, the onset of darkness/death), thereby subtly implying that, the older person is ‘exit’ing the stage of productivity, utility or relevance.

What’s more shocking is that, it comes from The Times of India – India’s largest circulated English daily! ☹

A sunset connotes a steep decline or descent, thus mirroring the society’s treatment of our elderly people – not as active agents, but as passive recipients of care, victims of “cyberfraud,” or subjects of “exploitation.”

Literary gerontology looks out for how texts construct the “Old” as fundamentally different from the “Normal” (usually defined as young, able-bodied, and autonomous).

I was particularly miffed at the line, “A digital-first society is too complex for thousands who lack the experience or even the tools.”

Shocking to the core! It frames the elderly as highly irrelevant, lacking the “cultural capital” to survive in the modern world without paid help, wherein their identity is defined by their lack - lack of family (living alone), lack of health (infirm), lack of digital literacy, etc. It is all the more sadder to note that, they are not portrayed as possessing wisdom, experience, or resilience, but only needs.

Moreover, the article uses the phrase “The silver streak in demographics.”

This is again a variation of the “Silver Tsunami” metaphor we had discussed in our past post a week ago!

From a literary gerontology perspective, the use of “Sunset Years” is not just a cliche; it is a narrative frame that signals the social death of the elderly before their biological death.

So what then, is the way forward?

Well, this post would like to suggest a few ways in which ‘language’ can prove to be a powerful tool to redefine the narrative in a holistic and empowering way!

In this particular article, the language needs to move from a Deficit Model (what old people lack) to an Asset/Agency Model!

I would then love to suggest a linguistic shift in their representation as follows -

Firstly, the current language treats the elderly as objects. Instead, the language can be used in such a way, that helps the elderly to gain their agency!

Secondly, there needs to be a shift of emphasis from a hierarchic use of language, to a language that emphasises on partnership / camaraderie.

Instead of using pejorative expressions like “The Third Age,” or “Fourth Age”, expressions like “Maturing Demographics”,  or “Intergenerational solidarity”, can be used!

The takeaway?

Well, Peter Barry, in his Beginning Theory states that, “Language constitutes / constructs our reality for us. Ultimately, then, the language we use to describe ageing needs to undergo a significant transformation.

By framing our elders as living in their “Sunset Years,” we are subtly telling them that their day is done, and that their value is fading with the light.

Ageing is not a sunset; it is a journey! A beautiful journey!

That is hence, we need a linguistic shift towards a language that is sensitive to the dignity of the elderly!

A language that stops viewing the elderly as a “burden to be managed” or a “market to be mined”!

A language that starts seeing them as individuals with a right to autonomy, dignity, and continued growth!

Into that heaven of freedom my father, let my people awake!

PS: You may want to read our past post based on an article on Kerala’s elderly in The Indian Express, from the perspective of Literary Gerontology, HERE on our blog.