Postmodern Philosophy as a Condition for the Emergence of Posthumanism Theory

The article presents a brief retrospective of the conceptions of philosophical postmodernism in their connection with posthumanism. Posthumanism is a philosophical movement that has been actively developed in the last decade, with its roots in the 60s and 70s of continental philosophy. The discourse of posthumanism implies work and development of conceptions and notions used by M. Foucault, J. Derrida, J. Deleuze and F. Guattari, R. Barthes and others. Connecting with such philosophical trends as disability studies, animal studies, postcolonial philosophy, actor-network theory, intersectional feminism, posthumanism expands, complements and reincarnates many provisions of postmodern philosophy. This article outlines the main concepts used in posthumanist discourse.

All Together Now

A common problem for people with disabilities, particularly those who rely on mobility devices, is learning to navigate a new environment. This is especially troublesome for students who are attending a new university and need to figure out how to get from one place to another. All Together Now is a mobile multi-player cooperative game developed for two purposes. First, the game, developed by two computer scientists and a disability studies scholar, is intended to give disabled students a fun way to learn their way around campus, learn how to report accessibility issues on that campus, and make friends with people who have similar disabilities. Second, the game can be used as a way of fostering awareness and advocacy among students without disabilities, by having them work in teams where one member is someone with a disability that causes them to rely on mobility devices. This article describes the implementation of the game within a disability studies course and the results of two pilot tests, with both disabled and non-disabled participants.

THE POWER OF THE DISABLED: FLANNERY O'CONNOR’S “THE LAME SHALL ENTER FIRST”

Flannery O'Connor’s (1925-1964) "The Lame Shall Enter First" (1962) deals with three characters: Sheppard, a widower, his son Norton, a ten years old boy and Rufus, a miscreant teenager, whom Norton dislikes. Rufus has a clubfoot, is very intelligent and fond of violence. Sheppard is a philanthropist and likes to help Rufus inviting him to live with them, contrary to Norton’s wishes. In fact, Rufus despises Sheppard, resists help and is aware of his own evil nature. He makes Sheppard embarrassed and causes Norton’s death deliberately, leaving both of them as victims. O’Connor in this context, de/reconstructs the prejudice against the disabled people; in the American South the disabled are regarded as evil characters. On the other hand, although it is generally accepted that the disabled people are good, she shows them as ordinary people having both good and wicked sides. Moreover, they may refuse help and prove personality despite the fact that non-disabled people are inclined or regard it duty to help them. She problematizes the disabled body as ‘the other/marginalized’ being pitiful and pitied. Thus, it becomes clear that O’Connor acknowledges the disabled people as normal as the non-disabled, or powerful, not physically but spiritually and intellectually. The tenets of ‘Disability Studies’ are insightful to discuss the work. Keywords: Flannery O'Connor, "The Lame Shall Enter First", “Disability Studies”, American South

A MATERIALIZAÇÃO DA DEFICIÊNCIA NA ATUALIDADE: ALGUMAS CONSIDERAÇÕES

A posição que o indivíduo ocupa na sociedade é moldada sob a ótica da normalização. Com a pessoa com deficiência não poderia ser diferente. A normalidade é padrão inventado para delimitar os limites da existência, a partir da qual se pode estabelecer o que é anormalidade. O presente ensaio teórico tem por objetivo discutir brevemente a compreensão de deficiência na atualidade. Aborda-se a deficiência sobre os vieses do normal e anormal, patológico, ideal de beleza e pela teoria do Disability Studies. Discute-se por meio de autores como Pessotti, Canguilhem e Foucault, dialogando com o filme “Nuovo Mondo” (The Golden Door), do diretor Emanuele Crialese. Entende-se que a superação da definição difundida de deficiência depende da superação da própria estrutura do sistema no qual se está circunscrito, o capitalismo. Para além disso, a diferença entre os indivíduos é necessária a manutenção deste modelo produtivo. Libertar a todos os sujeitos e torná-los iguais em direitos inverteria a ideologia capitalista. Encoraja-se aqui a pensar a diferença como um novo modo de vida, que precisa ser valorizado.

On “Savage and Deformed Slave”: Bodily Difference in Selected Contemporary Productions of The Tempest in Poland

Dis/ability is a dynamic category produced in a complex constellation of factors that includes not only stigmatised mental and physical constraints or physiological differences, but also a manifestation of incapacity that is recognised or produced by law, social norms and the very way of thinking about the nature of bodily vulnerability. The meanings of dis/ability are thus culturally and historically dependent. Therefore, the manner in which dis/ability is presented on a theatrical stage can be considered not only as an important factor influencing the interpretation of a given production but also as a test for the dominant thinking of disability at a given point of time, in a given culture. The departure point for this paper is a brief discussion of the visibility of medieval models of dis/ability in Shakespeare’s plays and a reflection on how the reception of these dramatic texts has changed over time depending on the paradigmatic shifts in thinking about dis/ability, especially with the emergence of disability studies and the growing theoretical reflection on the position of dis/ability in theatre. An especially interesting case in point is the reception of Caliban as a character whose stigmatisation can be expressed through bodily difference. Thus, the paper focuses on what seems to be a systematic aberrant decoding of The Tempest in three twenty-first century Polish productions of the play.

Intellectual disability – towards the modification of theoretical contexts

n this article, I deal with the contemporary contexts of the analysis of the intellectual disability phenomenon and the alternative proposals for theorizing presented by disability studies. I ask the question: what /who the dominant views and non-scientific alliances are for. I question the tendency to favour the medical approach in special pedagogy, which is the starting point as well as the reference point for the educational, rehabilitation, care and support practices it develops. I am not going to decide on the legitimacy of various approaches, I am aware of their historical and systemic conditions. However, I dare to ask a question about – as Miłosz Markiewicz (2017) described it – the limits of the definition of a Human. In view of the experienced diversity of human conditions, like the above-mentioned author, today I have a “problem with using the category of disability too easily” (Markiewicz, 2017, p. 23), and in particular, not often considered in relation to the methods of scientific analysis and theoretical contexts, the category of intellectual disability.

Child Writing and the Traumatised Body

Texts by young conflict survivors, including the children of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are worthy of historical and literary consideration on many fronts. How did young people experience, understand, and cope with damage to their bodies? What stigma did they face, and how did they make sense of their changed futures? How did they translate their experiences into prose, and how did they negotiate the meanings that such prose held within their societies? This essay suggests that juvenilia offers a deep well for other fields—trauma studies, the history of childhood, and even disability studies—to consider, and juvenilia studies might also incorporate new theoretical apparatuses that can help elucidate the personal, social, and political implications of young writers’ experiences of trauma and injury. Attention to children’s writing about their injuries may approach the asymptote of their trauma and offer insights for scholars working from numerous disciplinary points of origin. .