Bodies of Modernism: Physical Disability in Transatlantic Modernist Literature

269 Pages·2017·1.693 MB·English

by  Maren Tova Linett

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Bodies of Modernism
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Corporealities: Discourses of Disability
Series editors: David T. Mitchell and Sharon L. Snyder
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Bodies of Modernism
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Physical Disability in
Transatlantic Modernist Literature
Maren Tova Linett
University of Michigan Press
Ann Arbor
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Copyright © 2017 by Maren Tova Linett
All rights reserved
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except
by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher.
Published in the United States of America by the
University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
c
Printed on acid- free paper
2020 2019 2018 2017 4 3 2 1
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication data has been applied for.
ISBN 978-0 - 472- 07331- 3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0 -4 72-0 5331-5 (paper : alk. paper)
ISBN 978- 0- 472- 12248- 6 (e- book)
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For Ruth and Lev
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Acknowledgments
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I first became aware of the field of disability studies in my penultimate year
of graduate school when the Michigan Quarterly Review published a double
special issue on the topic. The issues included an array of pieces—by schol-
ars and artists such as Tobin Siebers, Rosemarie Garland- Thomson, Joseph
Grigley, Jim Ferris, Georgina Kleege, David Mitchell and Sharon Snyder, and
others—that helped launch disability studies in the humanities. Although it
was more than ten years before I turned to disability studies professionally,
those special issues lingered in my mind and make me all the more honored
now to have my book published in the Corporealities series with the Univer-
sity of Michigan Press.
For his unstinting mentoring ever since my time at Michigan, I am grate-
ful to John Whittier-F erguson, who also read sections of the manuscript and
gave wise and encouraging advice. I am grateful to the following people for
reading parts of the book and providing excellent feedback: Madelyn Detloff,
Stephanie Kerschbaum, Rebecah Pulsifer, Aparajita Sagar, Rebecca Sanchez,
and Jennifer William. For other forms of mentoring and/or consultation, I
am grateful to Douglas Baynton, Michael Davidson, Lennard Davis, Rose-
marie Garland- Thomson, John Gordon, Michael Groden, Janet Lyon, Su-
zanne Raitt, John- Paul Riquelme, Anna Snaith, and Joseph Valente.
Thanks to my Deaf academics group for weekly support and account-
ability: Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Mel Chua, Stephanie Kerschbaum, and
Rebecca Sanchez. And thanks to my Purdue accountability group for helping
to keep me plugging along: Elena Coda, Elaine Francis, and Jennifer Wil-
liam. I am also grateful for the support of two lunch groups: my comrades
in lunch— Elena Benedicto, Geraldine Friedman, Deena Linett, Margaret
Rowe, and Aparajita Sagar—a nd my “reading group” (which hasn’t actually
discussed books in years)— Elaine Francis, Tara Johnson, Ann Kirchmaier,
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viii  •  Acknowledgments
Melanie Shoffner, and Jennifer William. I would like in addition to thank
my Purdue colleagues Emily Allen, T. J. Boisseau, Marlo David, John Duvall,
Dino Felluga, Sandor Goodhart, Daniel Morris, Nancy Peterson, Manushag
Powell, and Irwin Weiser for academic advice and friendly support.
For emotional sustenance as I carry on with parenting and professing,
I am grateful to my friends Fraeda Friedman, Debra Gold, Elizabeth Kiss,
Nancy Kusumoto, Jennifer William, Colin William, and Elizabeth Yellen.
And I cherish the memory of Rachel Levin Troxell, who died in 2008 and
who, had she lived, would have continued to be a mainstay in my life.
I am fortunate to have had wonderful students in disability studies and
literature classes whose ideas have influenced mine. I would like to acknowl-
edge in particular the work of current and former students Stephanie Larson,
Jessica Mehr, Rebecah Pulsifer, and Stephanie Schatz.
Sincere thanks go to LeAnn Fields, Christopher Dreyer, and Mary Hash-
man at the University of Michigan Press, to the series editors, David Mitch-
ell and Sharon Snyder, and to the anonymous readers for my manuscript,
whose constructive suggestions helped improve the book. LeAnn supported
this project from the beginning and offered sage advice along the way.
My family has been wonderfully encouraging of my academic work. I am
grateful to my brother, Peter Linett, and his spouse, Cheryl Slover-L inett,
their daughters, Amelia and Sophie Linett, my father, David Linett, and
his spouse, Penny Linett, my mother, Deena Linett, and my parents- in-l aw,
Mary Naughton and Seamus Naughton, for their interest in and enthusiasm
for my scholarly projects. My mother especially has given feedback on my
writing and warmly celebrated my successes. My spouse, Dominic Naughton,
generously prioritizes my work, offers practical and realistic feedback, and
lovingly sees me through the ups and downs of academic labor. I dedicate
this book to our children, Ruth and Lev, who give beautiful shape to our days
and our lives.
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Contents
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Introduction 1
1 Mobility and Sexuality 19
2 Blindness and Intimacy 55
3 Deafness, Communication, and Knowledge 85
4 Knowledge Redux: Sensory Disability in Ulysses 119
5 Deformity and Modernist Form 143
Epilogue 197
Notes 205
Works Cited 231
Index 253