https://www.epw.in/journal/2023/14/postscript/rethinking-advocacy-through-disability-themed.html The Space We’re In and In the Meadow of Fantasies open up space for talking about disability in ways that are delightfully simple and evocative.
When we hear of disability-themed children’s fiction, we often think of stories of children with visible disabilities who are portrayed as having special abilities to compensate for their disability. Such representations depict inclusion—whether in the family, school, or among peers—as possible when disability is “overcome.” Yet, within disability studies, there has been considerable critique of such “inspiration porn,” also referred to as “supercrip narratives” that place the burden of overcoming disability on the disabled person. For instance, many disabled people have been critical of the paralympics or similar events that celebrate the “achievements” of disabled persons or of patronising language such as divyang to refer to disabled persons. Moving away from such stereotypic and cliched representations, many authors narrate stories and experiences of everyday and mundane life situations. Two striking examples of those are Katya Balen’s The Space We’re In (2019) and Hadi Mohammadi’s In the Meadow of Fantasies (2021). The Space We’re In is a wondrous book that strives to find streaks of light in the darkest of times, without negating the darkness. Balen’s masterful storytelling pulls the reader into a fascinating exploration of the inside world of a 10-year-old boy, who is as much a little child as he is a wise philosopher. Through his words unfolds a world of beauty, sadness, confusion, loss, disintegration, and eventual hope and reconstruction. This is not just a story of recovery from loss but of remaking oneself anew. This is the sort of book that one should read all at one go, curled up into a space of one’s own. -- सादर/ Regards अविनाश शाही/ Avinash Shahi सहायक/ Assistant मानव संसाधन प्रबंध विभाग/ Human Resource Management Department भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक/ Reserve Bank of India लखनऊ क्षेत्रीय कार्यालय/Lucknow RO विस्तार/ Extension: 2232 -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to accessindia+unsubscr...@accessindia.org.in. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CADeSQ2hU_Ac5L8BOjSxkG%2Bbbmsr%3DArE4m7qt57D5SwYdSMDBmw%40mail.gmail.com.
