Disability DiscourseMairian Corker, Sally French Why has 'the discursive turn' been sidelined in the development of a social theory of disability, and what has been the result of this? How might a social theory of disability which fully incorporates the multidimensional and multifunctional role of language be described? What would such a theory contribute to a more inclusive understanding of 'discourse' and 'culture'? The idea that disability is socially created has, in recent years, been increasingly legitimated within social, cultural and policy frameworks and structures which view disability as a form of social oppression. However, the materialist emphasis of these frameworks and structures has sidelined the growing recognition of the central role of language in social phenomena which has accompanied the 'linguistic turn' in social theory. As a result, little attention has been paid within Disability Studies to analyzing the role of language in struggle and transformation in power relations and the engineering of social and cultural change. Drawing upon personal narratives, rhetoric, material discourse, discourse analysis, cultural representation, ethnography and contextual studies, international contributors seek to emphasize the multi-dimensional and multi-functional nature of disability language in an attempt to further inform our understanding of disability and to locate disability more firmly within contemporary mainstream social and cultural theory. |
Contents
Inside aphasia | 15 |
The wind gets in my | 21 |
Sandy Slack | 28 |
Copyright | |
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ability able analysis aphasia argued autistic spectrum autistics become behaviour body bodymind Breaking the Waves challenge chapter child Chinese cochlear implant conceptual construction context Corker critical cultural deaf deafened person describe différance disability discourse Disability Research disability studies disabled children disabled identity disabled person disabled-ness dominant Down's syndrome example experience of disability feel feminism film Freire gender hearing ical individual interaction issues knowledge language learning difficulties label learning disability linguistic literacy lives London meaning mental illness metanarratives Mike Oliver model of disability model theory neurodiversity non-disabled normal Oliver parents physical political positive postmodernism problem production question relations response rhetoric role Sandra sense social model social model theory speech story structures suggests Sullivan talk teacher Temple Grandin tion understanding University Press visually disabled voice wheelchair women words writing