The grotesque realism of feminist disability : Carson McCullers and Anaïs Nin

Abstract

Feminist disability studies is a branch of literary theory that is dedicated to revising and restructuring perceived notions of embodiment. The fluid definition of "disability" has permitted various "undesirable" groups or traits to be labeled as disabled in the past such as women, people of color, and queer people. The only positive outcome that has resulted from such segregation has been the creation of carnivalesque communities that function outside the realm of formal society. The Bakhtinian carnival is an ambivalent space that suspends normative rules and perceptions allowing for the inversion of social structure and the awakening of human awareness and consciousness. I argue in this paper that: given enough time, the carnivalesque will then become the dominant structure of life devoid of a normalcy narrative. This evolutionary process can be seen as successful in the microcosmic fictional worlds of Carson McCullers and Anaïs Nin whose freakish characters have added a positive connotation to the term "grotesque.".