Not forgetting happiness: the tripartite model of disability and its application in literary criticism |
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Authors: | David Bolt |
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Affiliation: | Centre for Culture and Disability Studies, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK |
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Abstract: | This interdisciplinary article draws on the social sciences to posit a tripartite model from which literary research into disability can benefit. Ableism and disablism are defined by normative positivisms and non-normative negativisms respectively, but consideration is also given to non-normative positivisms. Informed by experiential knowledge, the model is illustrated with reference to a trilogy of literary representations of blindness: George Sava’s novel Happiness is Blind, Brian Friel’s play Molly Sweeney, and Stephen Kuusisto’s memoir Eavesdropping. The result is a complex reading that recognises problems but also non-normative renderings of happiness. |
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Keywords: | happiness literary representation non-normative positivisms blindness ableism disablism |
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