Cripping the Workspace: Physically Disabled Professionals Narratives as Performance of Identity

• In Event: Contributed Papers in Performance Studies

Abstract

Using Bamberg’s three levels of narrative positioning the author explores the narratives of 26 physically disabled professionals’ personal narratives as performance of identity. The author asserts that four hero identities (super hero, warrior hero, tragic hero and anti hero) emerge as physically disabled professionals interact with others in daily performance. These cultural constitutions resist the multifaceted humanity of physically disabled bodies, but can be dismantled through alternative performances.

Author

• Julie-Ann Scott, University of Maine