ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses old age and the role accorded to this phase of human life in (post)modernity. In order to bring the distinctiveness of (post)modernity into relief, two concepts of old age are juxtaposed and discussed. Developed by Cicero, one of them helps us comprehend the way in which old age was represented in classical antiquity. Put forward by Jean Améry, the other one illuminates the perception of old age in modern times. These two notions of old age are set against the image of old age fashioned in Little Happiness Experiments, a bestselling Dutch novel which allows an insight into how old age is understood in the postmodern era. In conclusion, a mysterious figure of K. appears and offers his comments on various facets and entanglements of old age.
