Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Bachelor of Arts in English Literary Studies

Advisor

Laura D'Amore, Ph.D.

Abstract

My paper will analyze the evolution of how authors throughout 20th and early 21st century Western literature depict cognitively disabled characters, with a focus on disabled narrator characters and the various elements of literary form that authors use to convey the differently abled mind. I will demonstrate this through literary analysis of three primary sources using the lens of critical disability studies. The three novels I analyzed are: The Secret Garden (1911), The Sound and the Fury (1929), and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (2003). I will conclude that the depictions of characters with mental disabilities has evolved to be increasingly positive over time, with the techniques that authors use to portray disabled perspectives being crucial for fostering a wider public understanding of disability and the need to transition away from normative societal systems in favor of more inclusive models that respect the humanity and autotomy of disabled individuals.

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