Overview

The modern concept of disability did not exist in the Romantic period. This study addresses the anachronistic use of 'disability' in scholarship of the Romantic era, providing a disability studies theorized account that explores the relationship between ideas of function and aesthetics. Unpacking the politics of ability, the book reveals the centrality of capacity and weakness concepts to the egalitarian politics of the 1790s, and the importance of desert theory to debates about sentiment and the charitable relief of impaired soldiers. Clarifying the aesthetics of deformity as distinct from discussions of ability, Joshua uncovers a controversy over the use of deformity in picturesque aesthetics, offers accounts of deformity that anticipate recent disability studies theory, and discusses deformity and monstrosity as a blended category in Frankenstein. Setting aside the modern concept of disability, Joshua cogently argues for the historical and critical value of period-specific terms.

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9781108836708

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Reviews

'Joshua uses writing about disability and disability theory to bring a new perspective to her analysis of these texts. As a result, this is an important contribution to literary criticism of the Romantic era. There is a larger historical significance too in her careful reading of the nuance of language and the evolution of terminology we use in our discussions of disability history.' Rosamund Oates, H-Disability

'Joshua uses writing about disability and disability theory to bring a new perspective to her analysis of these texts. As a result, this is an important contribution to literary criticism of the Romantic era. There is a larger historical significance too in her careful reading of the nuance of language and the evolution of terminology we use in our discussions of disability history.' Rosamund Oates, H-Disability 'Joshua's book demonstrates the need for scholars studying topics as wide-ranging as Jacobin politics and novels, proto-feminist writing, the Romantic encounter poem, aesthetics, the marriage plot, and the gothic to develop and account for historically specific concepts of pre-disability.' Corey Goergen, The Wordsworth Circle 'It is steeped in the intricate minutiae of period-specific group terms around the modern concept of disability. This book has succeeded wonderfully in making the most out of those archival silences in disability history … The greatest contribution of this book is to deepen our understanding of the long history of representation by offering a detailed peek into the unfamiliar language of Romantic-era disability. The historicist warning, however, is well-taken, and writing the history of disabled people will continue to require both Joshua's corrective archive and Sharpe's reparative anachronism.' Fuson Wang, European Romantic Review 'The greatest contribution of this book is to deepen our understanding of the long history of representation by offering a detailed peek into the unfamiliar language of Romantic-era disability …' Fuson Wang, European Romantic Review

Author Information

Essaka Joshua is Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of Pygmalion and Galatea (2001) and The Romantics and the May Day Tradition (2007). She won the Tyler Rigg Award for Disability Studies Scholarship in Literature and Literary Analysis in 2012.

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