Imagining Autism

Fiction and Stereotypes on the Spectrum

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Disability, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Imagining Autism by Sonya Freeman Loftis, Indiana University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sonya Freeman Loftis ISBN: 9780253018137
Publisher: Indiana University Press Publication: December 1, 2015
Imprint: Indiana University Press Language: English
Author: Sonya Freeman Loftis
ISBN: 9780253018137
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Publication: December 1, 2015
Imprint: Indiana University Press
Language: English

A disorder that is only just beginning to find a place in disability studies and activism, autism remains in large part a mystery, giving rise to both fear and fascination. Sonya Freeman Loftis’s groundbreaking study examines literary representations of autism or autistic behavior to discover what impact they have had on cultural stereotypes, autistic culture, and the identity politics of autism. Imagining Autism looks at fictional characters (and an author or two) widely understood as autistic, ranging from Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Harper Lee’s Boo Radley to Mark Haddon’s boy detective Christopher Boone and Steig Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander. The silent figure trapped inside himself, the savant made famous by his other-worldly intellect, the brilliant detective linked to the criminal mastermind by their common neurology—these characters become protean symbols, stand-ins for the chaotic forces of inspiration, contagion, and disorder. They are also part of the imagined lives of the autistic, argues Loftis, sometimes for good, sometimes threatening to undermine self-identity and the activism of the autistic community.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A disorder that is only just beginning to find a place in disability studies and activism, autism remains in large part a mystery, giving rise to both fear and fascination. Sonya Freeman Loftis’s groundbreaking study examines literary representations of autism or autistic behavior to discover what impact they have had on cultural stereotypes, autistic culture, and the identity politics of autism. Imagining Autism looks at fictional characters (and an author or two) widely understood as autistic, ranging from Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Harper Lee’s Boo Radley to Mark Haddon’s boy detective Christopher Boone and Steig Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander. The silent figure trapped inside himself, the savant made famous by his other-worldly intellect, the brilliant detective linked to the criminal mastermind by their common neurology—these characters become protean symbols, stand-ins for the chaotic forces of inspiration, contagion, and disorder. They are also part of the imagined lives of the autistic, argues Loftis, sometimes for good, sometimes threatening to undermine self-identity and the activism of the autistic community.

More books from Indiana University Press

Cover of the book The Contemplative Mind in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Light Traces by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book An Ode to Salonika by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Jascha Heifetz by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Oliver Mtukudzi by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Marcel Tabuteau by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Blood Ties and the Native Son by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Beyond Boundaries by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Les Industries lithiques taillées de Franchthi (Argolide, Grèce), Volume 3 by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Expressive Intersections in Brahms by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Jewish Youth and Identity in Postwar France by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Gods of the Mississippi by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Riding the Rails by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Homeless, Friendless, and Penniless by Sonya Freeman Loftis
Cover of the book Geographies of the Holocaust by Sonya Freeman Loftis
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy