| |
| author |
Candace Foltiny
| | title |
Disability Narratives: How Representation in American and French Literature and Media Affects Students with Disabilities
| | abstract |
The purpose of this thesis is to show the need for social change regarding disability and
education. This thesis examines the representation of disability in both American and French
literature and disability to answer the question "How do representations of disability affect
students with disabilities in K-12 education?" By delving into the laws and social conceptions of
disability, this thesis commences with the history of disability in both the United States and
France. The thesis continues with an analysis of two American narratives on disability—the 2009
novel Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin, and the 2014 memoir Laughing at My
Nightmare by Shane Burcaw. This analysis uses arguments made by critical disability theorists to
illustrate the complexity that disability narratives must try to obtain in order to be effective as a
form of disability representation. Essentially, the thesis states that the stronger American
disability narrative is the memoir Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw as it shows the
complex subjective experience of disability by using both the Social and Medical Models of
Disability. Furthermore, this thesis explores French literature and media by examining the 2017
novel Le garçon qui ne voulait plus de frère, written by Sophie Rigal-Goulard, and two
films—the 2002 documentary Être et avoir, directed by Nicolas Philibert, and the 2008
pseudo-documentary Entre les murs, directed by Laurent Cantet. This analysis discusses the
difficulty of finding French disability literature and media as well as the high levels of ableism
seen in French representations of disability. This thesis concludes with the sentiment that media
and literature are meant to be consumed by the public, which contains policymakers, educators,
students, and the disabled. Consequently, representations of disability consumed by these people
can affect their perceptions of disability and, ultimately, how they treat disabled students.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2022)
|
| advisor |
Marie-Pascale Pieretti
Hannah Wells
|
| full text | CFoltiny.pdf |
| |
