The Intersection of Disability Concern and Feminism in Doris Lessing’s The Fifth Child (1988) and its Sequel Ben, in the World (2000)
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Date
2014
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university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou
Abstract
This piece of research studies the intersection of disability concern and feminism in Doris
Lessing’s The Fifth Child (1988) and its sequel Ben, in the World (2000). To achieve my aim,
I have used Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s theory “Integrating Disability, Transforming
Feminist Theory”. In her theory, Garland-Thomson provides four fundamental and
interpreting domains that can be explored through the feminist disability approach to a text:
Representation, the Body, Identity and Activism. The appropriateness of this theory is
explained by the fact that Lessing seeks to bring equality and justice by integrating the
disabled people and transforming women’s condition in society. In my analysis of this topic, I
have divided my discussion into three sections. The first section comprises the disability
concern highlighted by three disabled characters Ben, Amy, and Matthew Grindly and the
perception of their disability in society. The second section consists of the celebration of
mothering and maternity as important factors that differentiate women from men, the changes
of the body, including pregnancies, as real marks of difference, and women’s resistance to
counter patriarchal stereotypes of their inferiority. These four prominent factors are portrayed
by the female characters of the two novels including Harriet Lovatt, Mrs. Biggs, Mary
Grindly and Teresa Alves. The last section deals with intersectionality and the interaction
between disability and feminist issues. Lessing insists on the mutual fates of the disabled and
women as they both endure marginalization by society and difficulties in their bodies. In
addition, this part is concerned with the sympathy of women with the disabled, which is
reflected through the integration of the disabled by the female characters. After analyzing the
two novels, it is revealed that the integration of the disabled people stands for the
transformation of the feminist concern in society as it is demonstrated by Lessing’s works.
Description
62p.;30cm.(+cd)
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Cultural and Media Studies