This book critically addresses the role of language in our collective construction of ‘normal’ bodies. Addressing a range of concerns linked with visible and invisible, chronic and terminal conditions, the volume probes issues in and around patient and caregiver accounts. Focussing on body conditions associated with breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, (type-1) diabetes, epilepsy, partial hearing and autism, the book draws on a range of critical theories to contest collectively assembled notions of ‘abnormality, ’ ‘disability’ and ‘impairments.’ It also addresses the need for applied sociolinguists to take account of how our researching practices – the texts we produce, the orientations we assume, the theoretical grounds from which we proceed– create ‘meanings’ about bodies and ‘normalcy, ’ and the importance of remaining ever vigilant and civically responsible in what we do or claim to do.
Table of Content
Chapter 1: Introduction: Why Bodies Matter
Chapter 2: On Metaprescriptive Utterances: Cancer, Breasts, and Gazes
Chapter 3: Scripting Selves: (Auto) Bio-graphical Writing of Alzheimer Patients and Caregivers
Chapter 4: Poststructuralist Discourses and Chronic Ailments: Diabetes, Epilepsy and Body Breakdowns
Chapter 5: Communication Challenges: Autism, Partial Hearing and Parental Choices
Chapter 6: Texts and Meaning-making: Critical Revisitations in Disability-related Research
Chapter 7: Critical Ailment Research in Applied Socio-linguistics: Power, Perception, and Social Change
About the author
Vaidehi Ramanathan is Professor of Applied Sociolinguistics at University of California, Davis, USA. Her previous publications include Language Policies and (Dis)Citizenship: Rights, Access, Pedagogies (Multilingual Matters, 2013) and Bodies and Language: Health, Ailments, Disabilities (Multilingual Matters, 2009).
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