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ERIC Number: EJ769250
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Dec
Pages: 16
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1071-4413
EISSN: N/A
Body Damage: Dis-Figuring the Academic in Academic Fiction
Leuschner, Eric
Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies, v28 n3-4 p339-354 Dec 2006
Contemporary academic fiction features a plethora of characters, male and female, identified by a bodily defect or medical malady as a primary character trait. These representations of the damaged college professor have joined other popular academic stereotypes, such as the absent-minded professor, the lecherous professor, and the sadistic professor, typically male images that have been tamed and domesticated, becoming part and parcel of academic life, accepted and laughed away. The trope of the "damaged professor," on the other hand, rather than a simple quirk, plays into a deeper characterization of the professoriate as a palpable symptom of the institutional and social critique explored by the academic novel. This essay first examines the representation of academic life in four examples: (1) John Williams's "Stoner" (1965); (2) Margaret Edson's "W;t" (1999); (3) Richard Russo's "Straight Man" (1997); and (4) Francine Prose's "Blue Angel" (2000). It then situates them within recent work in disability studies, in particular David T. Mitchell's concept of narrative prosthesis, in order to relate their significance to recent and continued critiques of the university. (Contains 1 note.)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A