Articulating Bodies: The Narrative Form of Disability and Illness in Victorian Fiction

Esther has experienced both impairment and the socially disabling effects of her marked face, marked in ways that are embodied, social, and functional in terms of plot (since the scarring effaces Esther's resemblance to her mother). The narratological concept of focalization does double-duty as...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inVictorian Studies Vol. 63; no. 2; pp. 310 - 312
Main Author Prizel, Natalie
Format Book Review
LanguageEnglish
Published Bloomington Indiana University Press 01.01.2021
Subjects
19th century
Art galleries & museums
Dickens, Charles (1812-1870)
Disability
Disorders
Empathy
Fiction
Hugo, Victor (1802-1885)
Illnesses
Novels
Perceptions
Plot (Narrative)
Religion
Scars
Victorian period
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Esther has experienced both impairment and the socially disabling effects of her marked face, marked in ways that are embodied, social, and functional in terms of plot (since the scarring effaces Esther's resemblance to her mother). The narratological concept of focalization does double-duty as an optical concept as well, and Hingston's emphasis on the role of perception in determining bodily normativity or deviance is a welcome approach, expanding our conception of disability outwards from solely a discursive category to a broader perceptual and even phenomenological concept, even in a book fundamentally concerned with textuality. In the fall of 2021, she will begin a term as Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the History of Art and Visual Culture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
ISSN:0042-5222
1527-2052
DOI:10.2979/victorianstudies.63.2.23