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Why have I chosen this topic?

My research aims to examine how short fiction writes and re-writes the representation of women’s ageing, specifically in post-war minor literature from three small European countries: Scotland, Ireland and Switzerland. I chose a comparative and gendered approach, as I believe there is a need for intergenerational and intercultural perspectives in feminism. That is also why, excepting Scottish writer Iain Crichton Smith/Mac a' Ghobhainn, my project focuses on women writers: Mary Lavin, Maeve Brennan, Muriel Spark, S. Corinna Bille and Adelheid Duvanel.

My central research question

Given that old(er) women are themselves marginalized figures in a male-dominated and often youth-centred world, at the intersection of sexism and ageism, my research interrogates whether representations of old(er) women are prevalent in minor literatures. I focus especially on how the short stories redefine the tropes of female ageing.