Call for Manuscripts for Disability, Media, Culture book series

Disability & Society

Disability Media Studies seeks to establish a new field; the field of disability media studies. The book recognises that whilst disability studies and media studies have influenced each other, there has been little concerted attempt to combine the two fields. Thus, the rationale for the book is that 'Neither disability studies nor media studies, on its own, has adequately grappled with the complexities of disability and media together' (3). The book does not attempt to delimit this new field in terms in terms of scope, extent, theoretical or methodological persuasion, or anything else. Rather, it seeks to initiate the field by staging 'interdisciplinary conversations', presenting a diverse anthology of essays covering a considerable range of topics, perspectives, theories, methods and so on. These essays are organised under six topics, bookended by an Introduction and two Afterwords. There are two or three essays under each theme: Access and Media Production; Disability and Race; Disability and Gender; Disability and Celebrity Culture; Disability and Temporality; and Disability and Technology. Helpfully, there is a second Contents page which organises the chapters by mediumfilm, television and so onto assist readers in navigating the book. The Introduction sets out three 'overarching hopes' (4) for the interdisciplinary conversation currently staged within its pages; hopes for the ways disability studies and media studies could further cross-fertilise. These are that: (i) More disability scholars will move beyond textual analysis of media representations to consider more fully the role of media within economic and ideological circuits of production and reception (ii) Media scholars will become more aware of the broader range of embodiments that shape and are shaped by our encounters with media (iii) All scholars will recognise themselves in the critically oriented, humanities-centred concern with social, cultural and economic justice that unites both disability studies and media studies, energizing their scholarship and helping develop disability media studies on theoretical, methodological, and political common ground. (4)

Considering Disability Journal, 2016

Culture surrounds us in every aspect of our daily lives and has a direct effect on our values, beliefs and interactions with others (Peters 2005). Its value, however, is not simply as a record of what is the expected norm in a given society (Markus & Kityama 1991), but also as a form of expression for human thought and imagination. This paper starts with an overview of the multiple meanings of culture and the various forms in which it may be manifested through cultural representations. It then proceeds to give a brief historical background on the expected roles of people with disabilities within society and how the importance of making the 'voice' of people with disabilities heard is conveyed through art and culture, including the Disability Arts Movement. In the paper, it is also argued that although Disability Arts aim to challenge the norms in society and create change, they only reach a select and limited audience. Thus, the paper questions whether more mainstream cultural forms can be used as a tool in giving a more accurate depiction of disability to a larger audience within society. Using current, mainstream English and American television programs, this paper explores whether modern day television programmes are including positive representation of disability, or whether negative stereotypes are still more prevalent. A distinction is made between the presence of people with disabilities in reality series' and the roles ascribed to disabled characters in fictional television serials and both forms are therefore discussed separately accordingly. The paper also covers the issue of crip drag, and its significance to disability activism, but also questions the notion of what is most offensive-a non-disabled actor playing a disabled character, or a disabled actor who states that he sympathises with people suffering from more severe forms of impairment. In conclusion, I've noted that although there is an increase in the presence of people with disabilities in everyday mainstream television, they are still saturated with stereotypes, and only a higher number of people with disabilities in front of and behind the camera can use television as a powerful medium in projecting a positive portrayal. Introduction Culture surrounds us in every aspect of our daily lives and has a direct effect on our values, beliefs and interactions with others (Peters 2005). It is present in various mediums and its presence and worth may only be felt when we are presented with alternatives to what we know as the norm. This paper starts by giving an overview of what culture means and represents, then proceeds to discuss the effect of culture in the way society views people with disabilities, and how through the use of disability arts and culture, these norms are being challenged. The essay then continues by discussing the representation of people with disabilities in English and American television.

2019

Crip Life Magazine , 2024

In light of recent calls suggesting a move towards a new field of study called Disability Media Studies, this piece of research investigated the extent to which, historically, media studies academics and researchers have either overlooked or have profoundly side-lined the issue of disability in their research, publications and teaching. The small-scale piece of research was based on a content analysis of ten academic publications (recommended introductory student textbooks and readers) in the field of media studies published over a period of twenty three years (1994 - 2017). The results of the research indicated that the inclusion of disability as a critical theme or detailed topic worthy of scholarly analysis and debate rarely featured in the subject’s academic textbooks that were used in the sample frame for the content analysis and that, in turn, such an oversight will inevitably have had an impact on media studies programme and course development and content, teaching, learning and research at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In concluding, it is argued that whilst the calls for Disability Media Studies is long overdue much more work is required especially within media studies if Disability Media Studies is to become established as a new academic field in its own right and if media studies is going to make a substantial contribution to that field.

2018

This is a review-article of two major studies in disability studies, one edited collection, The Problem Body: Projecting Disability on Film, edited by Sally Chivers and Nicole Markotić and one authored volume, Aesthetic Nervousness: Disability and the Crisis of Representation by Ato Quayson.

In 2010 the controversial adult cartoon television series Family Guy broadcast an episode where the protagonist’s son Chris has fallen for his class mate Ellen. This romantic side-story begins conventionally enough, apart from one interesting detail: Ellen has Down's Syndrome. Chris eventually finds Ellen quite pushy, demanding and negative. Chris eventually admits to himself – and the audience – that he had bought into the stereotype of people with Down's Syndrome being loving, kind and gentle. This episode was criticised heavily (though this is nothing new) for its jokes and the implications made concerning disability. Creator Seth MacFarlane defended the episode by arguing that satire has always been the basis of the series, and that in fact Family Guy is an “equal opportunity offender”. Perhaps even more importantly, the actress who voiced Ellen has Down's herself. Andrea Fay Friedman (1970-) has been acting for a considerable number of years in a variety of well known TV series, and is a stern advocate for real representations of disability on screens. Overall, the Family Guy episode received high/positive ratings from the public and even received several awards. This story sparked my interest concerning the relationship between disability and media: how is disability being represented in mass media? What are the consequences of such representations on broader society, as well as for the formation of a disability culture? How are these representations being interpreted by the public as well as the community it is portraying? It is widely accepted by scholars that media has a reflexive role in society by providing “a symbolic environment that begins to shape what individuals view as reality.” (Raynor and Hayward 2009:40) Thus I believe it is crucial to understand what kinds of discourses are present in media representations of people with disabilities, and in turn what kind of public perception of disability it formulates. I would also like to consider the experiences actors with disabilities encounter in the entertainment industry, both the positive and limiting negatives (“barriers”); and how this experience is linked to the discourse of disability representation present in the entertainment industry.

2017

Relationships define us. As humans, how we see ourselves often is reflected in the relationships we have in our family, work or school environments and other social settings. Society defines gender, class, race and ableism roles of what is "normal" as part of self-concept in growth and maturation from childhood to adulthood. Depictions in our narratives rely on unspoken, agreed-upon stereotypes and "norms." These depictions can take the form of novels, biographies, or visual media of movies, TVs and documentaries. We rely on stereotypes or archetypes to give us a short hand into how to relate to characters in a narrative. Sitcoms, or situational comedies, in particular, use this shorthand to quickly connect to viewership tell their stories in a humorous way, often amplifying characteristics for the sake of the joke or plot-movement. Disability Depiction in the Media/TV/Movies In an informal poll of friends of mine, some educators, some not, through social media of Facebook and Instagram, I asked what different shows and movies are thought of that depict disability. What was generated was a long list that could build into richer research and analysis in a variety of ways in the future. (see Appendix B) Some commonalities I noticed included the fact that movies were often personality driven, if the disabled character was the main character: a deep look at their life. On the small screen more often than not, the character with a disability, most often an obvious physical disability, fits into the role of "sidekick." In examples of media depictions of lead characters, we often get the tragic or inspirational characterization; where disability often subsumes any fullfaceted personality of the character. Many of the narratives in movies focus in on the onecharacter storyline and can fall into that trap of stereotypic portrayal easily.

2018

dialogue between Mladenov's theoretical tenants and local structural and institutional histories, coupled with empirical interrogation of disability within the CEE region, also makes this book an exemplary example for supervisors and doctoral candidates. It can provide a framework of how to weave the conceptual and the empirical, in a critically coherent path, across each chapter to final conclusion, particularly during those moments of feeling overwhelmed by complex empirical sources. The core concern for some readers may be the absence of personal narratives of disabled peoples within the CEE. Given the concise empirical chapter structurepolicies during state socialism against the marked distinction of the neoliberal erasome would suggest that the experiences of disabled people, specifically those who have experienced the transition across the two periods, would add a layer of depth to the overall analysis. This is clearly warranted. Yet I would suggest that this would be a different book. Mladenov's textual focus of disability policies at the structural and institutional level opens a window to examining and understanding the convergence and divergence of such policies, and simultaneously elucidating structural and institutional continuities, disruptions and generative effects that, despite public imaginings, often remain embedded in their historicity. It is a highly effective book and the work clearly achieves its ambitions. I have no hesitation in recommending Disability and Postsocialism. The book reads well. It is highly informative. It provides a strong synthesis of the changes to the CEE landscape within the realm of disability policy and politics. This is an excellent example for doctoral students of what is required to undertake a well-argued critical policy analysis, moments of changes and their impacts, through rich conceptual and empirical engagement.

DRAFT syllabus for team-taught Doctoral Seminar in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies. Course description. Like the fictions of gender and race, disability is a cultural and social formation that sorts bodies and minds into desirable (normal) and undesirable (abnormal, sick) categories. Regimes of representation in literature, art, music, theater, film, and popular culture—the ways that bodies and minds constructed as disabled are depicted—both reflect and shape cultural understandings of nonconforming identities and extraordinary bodies, affecting the lived experience of people understood as disabled, often in negative ways. Drawing on examples from the arts and popular culture, this course will interrogate the many ways disability identity has been confined to rigid and unproductive social, political, and aesthetic categories. It will also explore a significant counter-tradition in which disability is seen as a significant artistic resource and a desirable way of being in the world. Topics will include: the medical and social models of disability; narratives of disability; disability and performance; disability writing (memoir and fiction); narratives of overcoming; the histories and cultures of autism, deafness, blindness, intellectual disability, and madness. We will pay particular attention to the intersection of disability with other more familiar tropes of human disqualification, including race, gender, and sexuality.