Autobiographical Memoir as a Counter-dialogue to Misrepresentation of Disabled Body

Abstract

This research entitled “Autobiographical Memoir as a Counter-dialogue to Misrepresentation of Disabled Body” was carried out from July to December 2008. It became possible by review of different writers’ books, journals and articles. For this study, four essays were selected namely “Carnal Acts”, “Living with an Unstable Body”, “Bells and The Unification of Stephen Hawking” written by Nancy Mairs, Barbara Rosenblum, Ved Mehta and Mark O’Brien respectively. The hypothesis set for this study was “Autobiographical memoir written by writers with disability helps the writer to privilege their self and to acquire an agency. Such a move makes the autobiographical memoir a counter-dialogue to misrepresentation of disability experience.” Disability theory is used for the review of these essays using the tools like Constructing normalcy, Stigma, Ideology and Discourse. All four writers in memoir come to the experience of writing with a desire to make them heard and use the ‘written’ voice to formulate the expressions of identity that will complicate and disrupt stereotype about disabled self. The expressive and assertive voice developed throughout the memoir writing claims a certain kind of authenticity, agency and subjectivity at the hearty of which is the privileging of the point of view of the disabled narrator. It helps them to face the marked body and to provide an account that is truthful and trustworthy. It exceeds the way people with disability are (mis)represented by “normal” people because it tells what it means to be with disability for really disabled people.