ABSTRACT
This chapter recognises the importance of the internationalisation of television to local investigations of disability representation and reception. Combined with fan discussions, which are overflowing onto various online platforms, these contribute to knowledge spaces which offer new ways of thinking about disability. As such, this chapter uses Game of Thrones as a case study – in particular three main characters, Tyrion, Hodor, as well as Bran Stark – to offer analysis of both representation of disability as well as the way disability themes have been taken up and debated in online forums. To begin with, drawing on French cyber theorist Pierre Lévy’s framework of collective intelligence, I argue that audiences of GOT engage in a collective process of meaning-making that offers important insights into the social and cultural construction of disability. The discussion of disability representation must move beyond the television text to consider how meaning is located in multiple sites and subject to multiple influences.
