ABSTRACT
This study takes as its starting point an understanding of politics, ethics and aesthetics as fundamentally intertwined, connected through the concept of representation. It argues that it is important to explore disability in terms of character, metaphor and theme in literary narratives, both inside and outside of the traditional literary canon, across the ages. Disability perspectives can transform understandings of structure, genre and narrative form. These perspectives can destabilise established theoretical paradigms in literary criticism and provide a fresh, often provocative approach to analysing all literary texts. Literary representations of disability open up discussions about some of the most pressing issues of our age: about austerity, empathy, minority status, social care and citizenship. They provide creative opportunities for close reading, but they can also initiate a re-imagination and a re-writing of literary and cultural history.
