"I Just Absolutely Loved What I Did": The Rhetorical Construction of a Disabled Identity

Authors

  • Yvonne Stephens Kent State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v31i3.1679

Keywords:

Disability, discourse analysis, identity, multiple sclerosis, rhetoric, social model, theory of complex embodiment

Abstract

Siebers (2008) calls for a move beyond the social model of disability toward a "theory of complex embodiment" that allows for acknowledgment of the "negative" aspects of embodied disability and, in turn, allows for the adoption of a disabled identity. I answer Siebers' call by analyzing the discourse of one disabled individual—my father, a man with multiple sclerosis—and discussing his complex identity construction as a disabled person who sees the disability as a source of strength and knowledge as well as a source of suffering. Returning to that on which the social model is built—rhetoric—I argue that his rhetorical construction of a disabled identity is necessary and provides evidence for the need to step beyond the social model as currently conceived.

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Published

2011-08-08

How to Cite

Stephens, Y. (2011). "I Just Absolutely Loved What I Did": The Rhetorical Construction of a Disabled Identity. Disability Studies Quarterly, 31(3). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v31i3.1679

Issue

Section

Disability and Rhetoric