Reading disability in Keller’ The story of my life (1903) and Palacio’ Wonder (2012)
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Date
2025
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Université Mouloud Mammeri Tizi Ouzou
Abstract
This research has explored the issue of disability in Keller’s The story of my life (2017)
and Palacio’s Wonder (2012), focusing on the personal struggles and social responses that
shape the lived experience of the protagonists. The dissertation has investigated the
complex relationship between the individual and society by revealing how impairments
are not only medical conditions but also socially constructed identities. In the first
chapter, I have examined the “medical model” of disability, analyzing how Helen’s
deafblindness and August’s facial deformity are framed through diagnosis, treatment, and
the search for normalization. This chapter highlights how both protagonists are shaped by
medical authority, family intervention, and internalized expectations of “cure,” reflecting
the limitations of seeing disability purely as a physical defect. In the second chapter, I
have focused on the “social model” of disability, particularly how Helen and August are
marginalized, excluded and rejected because of societal attitudes. This analysis sheds
light on the way social barriers such as prejudice, exclusion, and stigma play a significant
role in shaping the challenges faced by disabled individuals. Throughout this research, I
have borrowed my methodology primarily from Tobin Siebers’ theory of disability and
Peter Burke’s sociological analysis of family dynamics. Additionally, I have incorporated
critical references to Michel Foucault and Talcott Parsons to enhance my understanding
of medicalization and deviance. This study has reached with the following findings. First,
both Helen’s and August’s experiences reflect how the medical model can isolate
individuals and reduce them to their impairments, as they are considered mere objects of
medical intervention and correction. Second, both works illustrate the social model of
disability, showing that exclusion and discrimination often arise not from the impairment
itself, but from external societal factors. Thus, this study offers a new comparative
perspective on how disability is constructed, resisted and redefined in literature across
historical and cultural contexts.
Description
59p. ; (+CD-Rom)
Keywords
Deafblindness, disability, facial deformity, marginalization, normalization
Citation
Literature and Civilization