Abstracts
Abstract
This article examines the construction of identity and masculinity in two cases of disability autobiography. Retrospectively written autobiographical accounts of early-onset disability were analyzed abductively by using the model of narrative circulation (MNC), with a thematic content analysis being used to organize the data. Both narrators constructed their adult identity as men in relation to the available disability narratives and living conditions. Three intertwined dimensions regarding the construction of identity could be observed: external expectations, internal intentions, and locally situated narratives of work. The narratives may be considered to represent an alternative way to bypass, overcome, and refresh the culturally dominant stock of stories.
Keywords:
- disability,
- identity,
- masculinity,
- narrative,
- model of narrative circulation
Download the article in PDF to read it.
Download
Appendices
Bibliography
- Baldwin, C. (2008). Narrative, citizenship and dementia: The personal and the political. Journal of Aging Studies, 22(3), 222–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2007.04.002
- Baldwin, C. (2013). Narrative social work: Theory and application. Policy Press.
- Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
- Bury, M. (2001). Illness narratives: Fact or fiction? Sociology of Health and Illness, 23(3): 263–285. doi:10.1111/14679566.00252
- Campbell, F. K. (2009). Contours of ableism: The production of disability and abledness. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Coleman-Fountain, E., & McLaughlin, J. (2013). The interactions of disability and impairment. Social Theory & Health, 11(2), 133–150. https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2012.21
- Couser, T. (2006) Disability, life narrative, and representation. In J. D. Lennard (Ed.), The disability studies reader (pp. 399–404). Routledge.
- Frank, A. W. (1995). The wounded storyteller: Body, illness, and ethics. University of Chicago Press.
- Garden, R. (2010). Disability and narrative: New directions for medicine and the medical humanities. Medical Humanities, 36, 70–74. doi:10.1136/jmh.2010.00414
- Gibson, B. E., Mistry, B., Smith, B., Yoshida K. K., Abbott, D., Lindsay, S., & Hamdani, B. (2014). Becoming men: Gender, disability, and transitioning to adulthood. Health, 18(1), doi: 10.1177/1363459313476967
- Glintborg, C., & Krogh, L. (2015). The psychological challenges of identity reconstruction following an acquired brain injury. Narrative Works, 5(2), 50–70. Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/NW/article/view/25014
- Heinonen, J. (2006). Työläismies ahdingossa? Kolme miessukupolvea rakennemuutosten Suomessa. [Workman in distress? Three generations of men and structural changes in Finland.] Helsinki University Press.
- Hydén, L-C. (2010). Identity, self, narrative. In M. Hyvärinen, L-C. Hydén, M. Saarenheimo, & M. Tamboukou (Eds.), Beyond narrative coherence (pp. 33–48). John Benjamin.
- Hänninen, V. (2004). A model of narrative circulation. Narrative Inquiry, 14(1): 69–85. https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.14.1.04han
- Lindemann, K., & Cherney, J. L. (2008). Communicating in and through “Murderball”: Masculinity and disability in wheelchair rugby. Western Journal of Communication, 72(2),107–125. doi: 10.1080/10570310802038382
- Loja, E., Costa, M. E., Hughes B., & Menezes, I. (2013). Disability, embodiment and ableism: Stories of resistance. Disability & Society, 28(2): 190–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.705057
- Mintz, S. B. (2006). Ordinary vessels: Disability narrative and representations of faith. Disability Studies Quarterly, 26(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v26i3
- Mik-Meyer, N. (2016). Disability and “care”: Managers, employees and colleagues with impairments negotiating the social order of disability. Work, Employment and Society, 30(6), 984–999.
- Nussbaum, M. (2007). Frontiers of Justice: Disability, nationality, species membership. Belknap Press.
- Nolan, M. (2013). Masculinity lost: A systematic review of qualitative research on men with spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord, 51(8), 588–595.
- Oliver, M. (1996). Understanding disability. Palgrave.
- Pohjola, H. (2018). Acquired disability in young women: a challenge for identity? Journal of Youth Studies. doi: 10.1080/13676261.2018.1529864
- Riessman, C. K. (2003). Performing identities in illness narrative: Masculinity and multiple sclerosis. Qualitative Research, 3(1), 5–33.
- Riessmann, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Sage.
- Sandahl, C., & Auslander, P. (2005). Bodies in commotion: Disability and performance. University of Michigan Press.
- Scott, J-A. (2014). Illuminating the vulnerability of hegemonic masculinity through a performance analysis of physically disabled men's personal narratives. Disability Studies Quarterly, 34(1). Retrieved from http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/3570/3526
- Shuttleworth, R., Wedgewood, N., & Wilson, N.J. (2012). The dilemma of disabled masculinity. Men and masculinities, 15(2):174–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X12439879
- SKS. (2013). “Life of Disabled Persons in Finland 2013–2014 [dataset]: Version 1.0 (2015-08-12).” Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]
- http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3040
- Smith, B., & Sparkes, A. (2004). Men, sport, and spinal cord injury. An analysis of metaphors and narrative types. Disability & Society, 19(6): 613–626.
- Smith, B., & Sparkes, A. C. (2008). Narrative and its potential contribution to disability studies. Disability & Society, 23(1): 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687590701725542
- Sools, A., & Murray, M. (2015). Promoting health through narrative practice. In M. Murray (Ed.), Critical Health Psychology (2nd ed., pp. 235–253). Macmillan.
- Sparkes, A., & Smith, B. (2002). Sport, spinal cord injury, embodied masculinities, and the dilemmas of narrative identity. Men and Masculinities, 4(3), 258–285.
- Staples, J. (2011). At the intersection of disability and masculinity: Exploring gender and bodily difference in India. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 17: 545–562. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2011.01706.x
- Tarvainen, M. (2019). Ableism and the life stories of people with disabilities. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 21(1), 291–299. http://doi.org/10.16993/sjdr.632
- UN (United Nations General Assembly). (2006). Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and optional protocol. Full text of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html
- WHO (World Health Organization). (2011). World report on disability. WHO. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/
- Östlund, G., & Johansson, G. (2018). Remaining in workforce: Employment barriers for people with disabilities in a Swedish context. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 20(1), 18–25.