According to the English Oxford Dictionary, the word "normal" did not appear until the 18th century. Along with it emerged the concept of abnormality or otherness, which defines the existence of people with disabilities and stigmatizes their bodies. However, what disability is and who we define as disabled is a question worth pondering, says Professor Lennard J. Davis of the University of Illinois at Chicago. In this episode, we talk about disability in theoretical terms, its representations in literature and film, and the incredibly significant Americans with Disabilities Act, which changed the living conditions of the largest minority in the United States.

Host: Maria Łusakowska, Faculty of Modern Languages at the University of Warsaw

Guest: Professor Lennard J. Davis, University of Illinois at Chicago

Mentioned in this episode:

“Enforcing Normalcy”, Lennard J. Davis, Verso, 1995

“Orientalism”, Edward Said, 1978

“The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability”, Jasbir K. Puar, Duke University Press 2017

⁠“Code of the Freaks”⁠ (2016) dir. by Salome Chasnoff

„⁠Enabling Acts. ⁠The Hidden Story of How the Americans with Disabilities Act Gave the Largest US Minority Its Rights”, Lennard J. Davis, Beacon Press, 2016

⁠“Resisting novels”,⁠ Lennard J. Davis, Routledge 2015

More about the concept of Mythemes by Roland Barthes: ⁠here⁠

“Motherless Brooklyn”,  Jonathan Lethem, 1999

“Monk” (2002-2009) dir. by Andy Breckman

⁠Will Eisner,⁠ graphic novels author

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