The Conference Proposal

This weekend, I got about half of what I wanted to get done finished, which is pretty good, I suppose. However, I have to present a conference proposal for a workshop tonight in class. After trying to write it before bed last night, I gave up and completed it while Charity was taking her (surprisingly early) morning nap. This is the conference: Framing the Human.  The proposal is below. I know it's not very good yet, but I would welcome any comments about the subject.

Oh, and on an amusing side note, I love Google, but sometimes it can be way off. For instance, this morning I was so tired I couldn't remember what The Sound and the Fury was called. I Googled Faulkner Works. What was my first result? FaulknerWorks: Custom Lighting and Accessories. I linked it so you can see that I'm not lying. :)

The Proposal

Throughout history, disabled people have been traditionally treated as other than human.  From the development of mental institutions and homes for the developmentally disabled where patients received substandard care, to the inclusion of disabled people in sideshows, disability has been long associated with both seclusion and spectacle.  Classic literature has not only recorded, but also promoted this stereotype. Margolis and Shapiro call the symbols of disability in classic literature “allegorical,” noting how the disabilities of Captain Ahab, Hook, and Tiny Tim represent the stereotypical fear, evil, and pity. 

Although contemporary literature, especially contemporary literature for young adults, has made an attempt to repeal these earlier stereotypes through the construction of characters who represent life with a disability more accurately, much of this literature is either formulaic—fables written in order to compel young people to treat their disabled peers with respect—or characteristic of a second wave of stereotypical writings.  For instance, William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, which are both frequently studied in high schools, present more complex images of the disabled mind while still promoting the image of the disabled person something other (perhaps more powerful than) human.  The exception to this is Mark Haddon’s recent novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.  While this novel has received much critical attention for the author’s treatment of the main character, Christopher, a teenager with Aspergers, little has been done to probe the deeper recesses of this teenager’s thinking.  Through a study of the main character’s thought process, I will prove that Christopher’s deeply philosophical thinking sets Haddon’s novel apart from other portraits of disabled people, breaking both classic and contemporary stereotypes, and defining disability as a trait that enhances rather than negates an individual’s humanity.