A changing disability-intertext: representation of disability in Canadian young adult fiction

• Author / Creator

  Melnyk, Catherine L

• This study examines the disability-intertext in contemporary Canadian young adult fiction and seeks to analyze new patterns in the representation of disability. The disability-intertext is explored using Michel Foucault’s theory of the “background-body” and Ato Quayson’s theory of “aesthetic nervousness.” The representation of disability in six contemporary Canadian young adult texts is analyzed through the categories of disability as normality, temporality, social context, textual landscape, genre, self-image, abuse, humour, and author’s notes. The intentionality of situating issues of disability in the young adult genre represents an important development in Canadian literature, where disability narratives in young adult fiction are critically reread so as to bring out deeper meanings for the contemporary audience.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Canadian young adult fiction
  • Background-body
  • Disability
  • Disability as normality
  • Aesthetic nervousness
  • Disability-intertext
  • Disability Studies
  • Intentional fallacy
  • Intentional disability

• Graduation date

  Fall 2011

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3P303

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.