Disability, Literature, Genre: Representation and Affect in Contemporary FictionExamining the intersection of disability and genre in popular works of horror, crime, science fiction, fantasy, and romance published since the late 1960s, Disability, Literature, Genre is a major contribution to both cultural disability studies and genre fiction studies. Drawing on recent work on affect and emotion, the book explores how disability makes us feel, and how those feelings shape interpersonal and fictional encounters. Written in a clear and accessible style, Disability, Literature, Genre offers a timely reflection on the rapidly growing body of scholarship on disability representation, as well as an innovative new theorisation of genre. By reconceptualising genre reading as an affective process, Ria Cheyne establishes genre fiction as a key site of investigation for disability studies. She argues that genre fiction's unique combination of affectivity and reflexivity makes it ideally suited to the production of reflexive representations of disability: representations which encourage the reader to reflect upon what they understand about disability, and potentially to rethink it. Examining the affective--and effective--power of disability representations in a wide range of popular genre fiction, this book will be essential reading for academics in disability studies, literary studies, popular culture studies, and the medical humanities. |
Contents
Affective Encounters and Reflexive Representations | 1 |
Fearful Bodyminds | 27 |
Disability in Crime | 53 |
Science Fiction | 81 |
Affirmation and Enchantment | 109 |
Romance | 135 |
Reading and Feeling | 161 |
Works Cited | 173 |
187 | |
201 | |
Common terms and phrases
achievement acts affective appears approach association assumptions become blind body bodymind central chapter characters contemporary context conventional create crime crime fiction Crip critical cultural cure death depiction desire detective developed disa disability encounter disability studies discussion emotional encounters encourage engagement evoke examines example expectations experience explores fantasy fear feelings figure final forms framed frequently function further future genre fiction Hannibal Lecter hero horror human idea identifies identity images imagine involves kill kinds Kings Lecter literary live London Mark means mental metafictional metanarrative mind monster multiple narrative negative nondisabled notes novel offers particular perceived person popular position possible potential presented produce protagonists quest reader reading reflection relation relationship representations representations of disability response result Rhyme role romance scholars science fiction sense social specific Starfish story suggest supercrip texts tion tive transformative trilogy tropes types Tyrion understanding victim villain wonder writes