Challenges and Opportunities of Old Age: A Comparative Study of La Fontaine’s Fable ‘Le Lion devenu vieux’ and Ezeuko and Anowai’s Poem ‘Agadi Nwoke’
Conference: ISA 22nd Annual International Conference (2025)
Presenter(s): Ihechi Nkoro
Abstract
Living and non-living things co-exist to make life worthwhile. Human capital and non-human capital interact in various ways in different places to sustain life. Whereas plants, animals and humans belong to the class of living things and grow from being young to being old, only humans can share the life experiences of all living things with other humans. Youthfulness and old age often attract the attention of scholars in different disciplines. Old age features prominently in world literature. This study focuses on the challenges and opportunities of old age from a literary perspective. The data for the study is Jean La Fontaine’s 17th century French fable ‘Le Lion devenu vieux’ and Ezeuko and Anowai’s 20th century Igbo poem ‘Agadi Nwoke.’ The study adopts a humanistic approach as it examines how humans can cope with the challenges of old age and enjoy the great opportunities offered by old age. The methodology for the study is content analysis based on a thematic comparison of the French fable and the Igbo poem. Other references for the study include: Mustric (1979), Ademowo (2011), Woko (2011), Anyanwu, Okome and Tugbokorowei (2017), Oró-Piqueras and Falcus (2018) and Nkoro (2024).
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