Disability Narratives 3700-AL-DN-qHT

This course attempts to focus on the narrative constructions of disability in contemporary literature and culture. It is divided into four parts. The first part interrogates the implications of narrativising disability in literary texts and cultural discourses. It offers insights into the established disability theory as well as new developments in the field. The second part of the course discusses cultural narratives and stereotypes about disability, such as disability as trauma, deviance, or inspiration, and look into the ways in which contemporary literary and genre fiction reinforces and subverts these stereotypes. While the first two sections discuss the various ways in which disability has been consistently objectified in cultural and literary discourses, the third part shows how disabled writers reframe these objectivising metanarratives by offering their own accounts of the experience of impairment as well as barriers that disable them in social spaces. This section, therefore, discusses various forms of first-person disability life writing. In the final section of the course, the students will be asked to submit their end of term projects, which will be discussed in the classroom. The course will be taught in the form of in-class discussions based on selected theoretical readings, essays, short stories, podcasts, and one unabridged novel. This wide range of cultural texts is to account for the various ways in which disability has been narratively constructed and to create a platform for the students to discuss how these cultural narratives can be countered or revised. This course involves a prominent self-study component, including two types of assignments: 1) reading: theoretical and literary texts (as discussed above); 2) writing: end of term project (in the form of essay, report, or video presentation, etc), including in-class presentation of the projects’ outcomes.

Koordynatorzy przedmiotu

Paweł Wojtas

Rodzaj przedmiotu

fakultatywne

Założenia (opisowo)

Students with a good command of English (B2 or better), as well as basic knowledge in English and related literature are welcome to enrol. The course involves a number of selected readings and a writing assignment students must be prepared to find time for self-study.

Efekty uczenia się

Knowledge. The graduate student knows:
K_W04
at an advanced level selected literary phenomena, historical-literary processes, and works of world literature, particularly in relation to analysing literary representations of disability.
(P6S_WG)

K_W05
at an advanced level selected theories of literature and methods of literary research, including disability theory and narrative theory.
(P6S_WG)

K_W06
at an advanced level selected tools and methods for analysing cultural texts, including interdisciplinary approaches from disability studies.
(P6S_WG)

K_W18
complex determinants of selected socio-cultural phenomena, including new identities and transformations of public discourse, with particular reference to disability, inclusion, and representation.
(P6S_WK)

Skills. The graduate student is able to:

K_U02
analyse phenomena and cultural texts using appropriately selected research methods and tools, including interdisciplinary approaches, with application to disability narratives across literature and media
(P6S_UW)

K_U03
analyse and interpret literary texts using appropriate tools, theories, and cultural contexts, with emphasis on representations of disability
(P6S_UW)

K_U05
critically analyse scholarly texts using appropriate theoretical frameworks, including key works in disability studies.
(P6S_UW)

K_U08
formulate coherent written and oral statements using appropriate terminology from the humanities and social sciences, particularly in the field of disability studies and literary analysis, including in the preparation and presentation of an individual course project.
(P6S_UK)

K_U09
actively participate in debate on socio-cultural phenomena, presenting arguments and engaging with differing perspectives, particularly in discussions on disability, ethics, and representation.
(P6S_UK)

K_U10
communicate orally and in writing in a selected foreign language at the B2 level.
(P6S_UK)

Social Competences. The graduate student is prepared to:

K_K01
critically evaluate one’s knowledge and received content concerning socio-cultural phenomena, including dominant narratives about disability.
(P6S_KK)

K_K02
demonstrate respect and research curiosity toward complex contemporary issues and interdisciplinary knowledge, including disability as a cultural and social category.
(P6S_KK)

K_K06
engage in social and intercultural dialogue with respect for diversity, including disability and neurodiversity.
(P6S_KR)

Kryteria oceniania

Assessment is based on attendance (up to two absences allowed; absences 3-4 must be certified and/or made up; absences 5 and over result in failure to pass the course), in-class performance, and timely submission of an end-of-term project (in the form of essay, report, or video presentation, etc).

Submission of an end-of-term project (in the form of essay, report, or video presentation, etc). The assignment should be up to 1500 words in length (or equivalent, if prepared otherwise than in writing).

Literatura

Barker, Clare, and Stuart Murray. The Cambridge Companion to Literature and Disability. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Bolt, David. Metanarratives of Disability: Culture, Assumed Authority, and the Normative Social Order. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2021.
Catapano, Peter, and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson. About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2021.
Couser, G. T. Signifying Bodies: Disability in Contemporary Life Writing. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010.
Davis, Lennard J. Enforcing Normalcy: Disability, Deafness, and the Body. London: Verso, 1995.
Davis, Lennard J. The End of Normal Identity in a Biocultural Era. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2022.
Davis, Lennard J. The Disability Studies Reader. 5th ed. New York, NY: Routledge, 2017.
Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017.
Hall, Alice. Literature and Disability, 2016.
Hall, Alice. The Routledge Companion to Literature and Disability. London: Routledge, 2020.
Ichikawa, Saou. Hunchback, translated by Polly Barton. London: Penguin.
Mitchell, David T., and Sharon L. Snyder. Narrative Prosthesis: Disability and the Dependencies of Discourse. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2011.
Mitchell, David T., and Sharon L. Snyder. The Biopolitics of Disability: Neoliberalism, Ablenationalism, and Peripheral Embodiment. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2018.
Mitchell, David T., Susan Antebi, and Sharon L. Snyder. The Matter of Disability: Materiality, Biopolitics, Crip Affect. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2019.
Shakespeare, Tom. Selected audio essays from The Point of View BBC Radio 4 Podcast. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qng8/episodes/downloads.
Wong, Alice. Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century. New York: Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2020.