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
acquired impairment and contested | 9 |
Inside aphasia | 15 |
The wind gets in my | 21 |
Copyright | |
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ability able accepted analysis aphasia argued Asperger's syndrome autistic spectrum become behaviour body bodymind Breaking the Waves challenge chapter child Chinese communication conceptual construct context Corker crippled critical cultural deaf depression describe disability discourse disability research disability rights movement disability studies disabled children disabled identity disabled person disabled-ness emotional example feel film gender hearing ical important individual interaction interpretation issues knowledge language learning difficulties label learning disability lives meaning mental illness metanarratives Mike Oliver model theory neurodiversity non-disabled non-verbal normal Oliver ontological narrative parents particular physical political positive postmodern problem production public narratives recognize relations response rhetoric role Sandra sense sion social model social model theory social narratives society speech story suggests Sullivan Temple Grandin tion understanding visually disabled voice wheelchair white stick women words writing