About

Auto-biographical narratives are commonly used by disabled academics to draw attention to the ableist society in which we live, and therefore, through producing authentic depictions of ‘the disability experience’, these works actively challenge harmful negative stereotypes perpetuated by society (Simplican 2017).

I shall produce a composite novel comprising of a set of interlinked short stories. This creative work will include both an autofictional snapshot of events of my past as well as, while not strictly autobiographical, narratives which are driven by my emotional response to the disability experience. My research project will use a two-sided approach towards new and original understandings of the ‘disability experience’ by creatively exploring the transformative effect of the lived experience of disability through a work of composite autofiction on the one hand, and analytically via an in-depth critical review and examination of this depicted experience on the other.

Coming to this project as a creative writer with a background in social science and philosophy, I root my discussion in conversations emerging from disability studies, analytic philosophy and political theory. As such, this PhD’s contribution to knowledge is twofold. First, exploring the disconnect between self-perception and the impaired body through the depiction of my autofictional reflections it examines the impact of disability on the individual's sense of self, whereby this subjectivity becomes fragmented, .I thus reflect on how the disabled subject experiences psychological tension caused by the incongruity of these two selves, capturing the ‘infinite richness’ of this experience (Cixous 1976). Second, through the critical contexts mentioned above, I underpin this creative work with a wider discussion about subjectivity, critiquing dominant oppression narratives produced by the disability rights movement.