Setting the Stage for Bridging Disability and Trauma Studies: Reclaiming Narrative in Amy and the Orphans
Setting the Stage for Bridging Disability and Trauma Studies: Reclaiming Narrative in Amy and the Orphans
Author(s): Josephine BarnettSubject(s): Philosophy, Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Gender Studies, Literary Texts, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Studies of Literature, Aesthetics, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Culture and social structure , Social psychology and group interaction, Personality Psychology, Psychology of Self, Psychoanalysis, Social differentiation, Studies in violence and power, Health and medicine and law, Victimology, Theory of Literature, Identity of Collectives
Published by: Universitatea Petrol-Gaze din Ploieşti
Keywords: disability; trauma; representation; performance; narrative; intersectionality; Amy and the Orphans; Lindsey Ferrentino;
Summary/Abstract: Disability studies and critical trauma studies are both deeply concerned with the social construction of meaning and identity. However, these disciplines often remain mutually disengaged, inadvertently overlooking shared mechanisms of oppression that foster stigma. This article explores the novel depiction of disability and trauma in the play Amy and the Orphans by Lindsey Ferrentino. Amy, a character with Down Syndrome, challenges disability stereotypes by exercising autonomy; she is not solely defined by her disability or her experiences of abuse. The theatrical narrative is one of both disability and trauma, encouraging a nuanced reflection on the origins of stigma and revealing how theatre can be used as a tool of resistance to reclaim agency through performances that challenge conventional ‘disability’ stereotypes.
Journal: Word and Text, A Journal of Literary Studies and Linguistics
- Issue Year: VIII/2018
- Issue No: 01
- Page Range: 129-148
- Page Count: 20
- Language: English
