TY - BOOK ID - 84689882 TI - Reading embodied citizenship : disability, narrative, and the body politic PY - 2011 SN - 1283864185 0813549906 0813549396 PB - New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, DB - UniCat KW - Human body KW - National characteristics, American, in literature. KW - People with disabilities in literature. KW - Human body in literature. KW - American fiction KW - Body, Human KW - Human beings KW - Body image KW - Human anatomy KW - Human physiology KW - Mind and body KW - Handicapped in literature KW - Physically handicapped in literature KW - Body, Human, in literature KW - Human figure in literature KW - Political aspects KW - History and criticism. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:84689882 AB - Liberal individualism, a foundational concept of American politics, assumes an essentially homogeneous population of independent citizens. When confronted with physical disability and the contradiction of seemingly unruly bodies, however, the public searches for a story that can make sense of the difference. The narrative that ensues makes "abnormality" an important part of the dialogue about what a genuine citizen is, though its role is concealed as an exception to the rule of individuality rather than a defining difference. Reading Embodied Citizenship brings disability to the forefront, illuminating its role in constituting what counts as U.S. citizenship. Drawing from major figures in American literature, including Mark Twain, Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers, and David Foster Wallace, as well as introducing texts from the emerging canon of disability studies, Emily Russell demonstrates the place of disability at the core of American ideals. The narratives prompted by the encounter between physical difference and the body politic require a new understanding of embodiment as a necessary conjunction of physical, textual, and social bodies. Russell examines literature to explore and unsettle long-held assumptions about American citizenship. ER -