(In)Visible Images

(IN)VISIBLE IMAGES: SEEING DISABILITY IN CANADIAN LITERATURE, 1823-1974 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Despite the ubiquity of images depicting disability in the narratives that have contributed to the shaping of Canadian national identity, images of unconventional bodies have not drawn critical attention. This book begins to address the neglect by revisiting eight Anglophone selections from Canada's historical literary canon (1823-1974) using Disability Studies theory. Because fictional representations inform the ways we interpret reality, rereading disabled characters in a Canadian literary context provides new insights into the meaning of Canadian nationhood. This study reveals a struggle within the national imaginary between ableism and a desire for inclusive pluralism and argues that Disability Studies readings may help to liberate the collective psyche from tyrannical impositions of normalcy to a greater realization of the richness of human diversity. (IN)VISIBLE IMAGES is the winner of the 2008 University of Saskatchewan Award in Humanities and Fine Arts.