Dwelling among Mortals: Narratives of Disability and Revelation in Twentieth-Century American Fiction

Defense Date

3-22-2007

Graduation Date

Spring 1-1-2007

Availability

Campus Only

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

English

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Magali Cornier Michael

Committee Member

Linda Arbaugh Kinnahan

Committee Member

Michael Berube

Keywords

La Loca Santa, Bishop Rayber, Benjy Compson, abnormal, Buck v. Bell, cognitive disability, mental disability, intellectual disability, physical disability, AIDS, Christianity, epilepsy, Adah Price

Abstract

In the American twentieth century, the intersection of religious imagery with fictional representations of disability takes shape in response to the dominant structures of normalcy that systematically exclude those whose physical and mental experiences do not coincide with the established norm. Through a critical examination of four sites of this intersection, my inquiry questions the discourse of independence that denies the capacity of interdependent human community. My discussion focuses on four novels that present characters with a broad range of mental and physical disabilities and that engage religious imagery grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition: William Faulkner

Format

PDF

Language

English

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