Niepełnosprawność jako inność
Disability as the Otherness

Popular Discourses on DIsabilities in Disability Studies

Author(s): Klaudia Muca
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Social Philosophy, Sociology
Published by: Ośrodek Badawczy Facta Ficta
Keywords: disability;otherness;norm;popular discourse on disability;disability studies
Summary/Abstract: Criticism towards a popular discourse on disability is rarely analyzed due to the fact that this discourse—created and performed by non-disabled people who examine disability from different points of view—can be biased. This powerful discourse creates some divisions in the public sphere founded on the concept of a norm. Consequently, a person who do not adhere to the norms may become excluded or perceived as the Other. The article critically examines the popular discourse on disability, emphasizing the fact that critical work on disability is still underdeveloped within the new branch of cultural studies gradually evolving in Poland. The main objective of the chapter is, therefore, to reconstruct the ideas, beliefs and images that establish the discourse in accordance to the autobiographical projects of the criticism of the popular discourse on disability that is based on the concepts of norm, deprivation, and otherness. The analysis takes into consideration Joanna Pawlik’s multimedial projects and a novel Dłoń (A Hand) by Michał Dąbrowski.

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