Boon or bust? Heidegger,disability aesthetics and the thalidomide memorial |
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Authors: | Thomas Abrams |
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Institution: | Department of Sociology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
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Abstract: | Disability Studies has begun to interrogate the aesthetics of disability, both in terms of artwork and sensuous apprehension more generally. The present paper is a contribution to this burgeoning literature. Here I seek to demonstrate what the aesthetics of Martin Heidegger offer to that project. I do so in three stages. I begin by reviewing some relevant disability studies literature, highlighting some general themes in Disability Studies’ recent engagement with ‘the aesthetic’, widely defined. Next, I turn to the phenomenology of Martin Heidegger, to add some further philosophical depth to this project. In third and final section, I apply Heidegger’s aesthetics to the recently unveiled thalidomide memorial, to demonstrate the empirical worth of his analysis of artwork. I conclude with suggestions for future Disability Studies. |
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Keywords: | Heidegger aesthetics thalidomide memorial Contergan |
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