Overview

The long nineteenth century—stretching from the start of the American Revolution in 1776 to the end of World War I in 1918—was a pivotal period in the history of disability for the Western world and the cultures under its imperial sway. Industrialization was a major factor in the changing landscape of disability, providing new adaptive technologies and means of access while simultaneously contributing to the creation of a mass-produced environment hostile to bodies and minds that did not adhere to emerging norms. In defining disability, medical views, which framed disabilities as problems to be solved, competed with discourses from such diverse realms as religion, entertainment, education, and literature. Disabled writers and activists generated important counternarratives, made increasingly available through the spread of print culture. An essential resource for researchers, scholars and students of history, literature, culture and education, A Cultural History of Disability in the Long Nineteenth Century includes chapters on atypical bodies, mobility impairment, chronic pain and illness, blindness, deafness, speech dysfluencies, learning difficulties, and mental health, with 34 illustrations drawn from period sources.

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9781350436725

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The contributions this book features will be of immense value to students and scholars who are new to the field. As a whole, the book will also serve as a useful reference work for experienced researchers in the field looking to recap their knowledge or find inspiration for new directions of research. * Literature & History, Ball State University Libraries *

Author Information

Martha Stoddard Holmes is Professor of Literature and Writing Studies at California State University San Marcos, USA. Joyce L. Huff is Associate Professor of English at Ball State University, USA.

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