"I Want to Look Good": Progressive Discourse Analysis Toward Anti-Ableist Counternarratives in Young Adult Literature

• In Event: Centering the Interests, Agendas, Narratives, Perspectives, and Voices of Disabled Students

Abstract

The ways that intersecting identities and experiences are reflected (or not) in media, including literature, contributes to the ways that individuals and groups are seen, and often see themselves, in society. Too often, disabled people have not seen themselves reflected back in the characters of the stories they consume, and/or see only passing, limited and/or limiting conceptions of disability. In an effort to identify examples that challenged these narrow constructions, we conducted Positive Discourse Analysis to examine the characteristics of and connections across YA texts that center disability in progressive anti-ableist ways, while highlighting the work of disabled authors. The stories we analyze embody counternarratives that center disabled characters as multifaceted individuals with intersectional identities and experiences in/through YA literature.

Authors

• Casey Woodfield, Rowan University

• Carrie E Rood, SUNY - College at Cortland