| Contents >Defining Disability Linguistically or How to obstruct someone with a dictionary by Belinda Downes ( University of Newcastle) |
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Overt examples
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Richard III – Shakespeare Act 1 Scene 1
…
But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
…
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
(Shakespeare, 1597)
While we get the message here that Richard III is a villain and not to be trusted, the problem here is that the real Richard III apparently did not have a disability. Disability is used to ascribe a negative attribute, being a villain.
At various times throughout history, if people wanted to denigrate someone's character, they attributed various impairments to them. An early example is when the Tudor monarchs wanted to discredit Richard III ... Tudor historians created elaborate propaganda of Richard as a disabled and vengeful mass murderer. The portrait of Richard that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery has been X-rayed and it was proved that his hump was added to the picture sixty years after his death. (BFI, 2006)
An opposite example is of the taking away (in public) of a disability in order to take away negatively perceived character attributes. The life and career of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt highlights this clearly:
There was a gentlemen's understanding with the press that photographs displaying FDR's disability were not published. Consequently, only candid photos of FDR in his wheelchairs have survived. The Roosevelt Library owns three of them. (FDR Library, 2007)
In these days of political correctness, however, the message has to be more subtle, but has just as much impact.
A new model?
Developing a linguistic model may better describe what is happening.
There are a few linguistic frameworks that can inform this process:
Saussure – langue and parole
Austin – locution – illocution – perlocution
Peirce - objects of interpretation, interpretant, representmen / sign
Grice – Conversational Maxims
(Cobley, 2001)
This study involves talking with people with a disability using Episodic Interviewing methodology to get examples of marked language. Then using conversational analysis and functional grammar (and other linguistic tools) it is hoped to work from the language examples to get a more complete idea as to the attitudes and the language choices made when coding those attitudes.
And in practice?
Far more than a debate about what words to use to describe a particular disability, it is natural for people to project their fears and hopes onto others, especially when the other is something they do not understand. Could it be that when we define disability, we are actually defining what we think of ourselves? This is more than just being ’politically correct’. It is more about taking back missed opportunities for everyone, not just people with disabilities. (Lawson, 2003)
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| Contents >Defining Disability Linguistically or How to obstruct someone with a dictionary by Belinda Downes ( University of Newcastle) |