Rebecca Mallett is Senior Lecturer in Disability Studies at Sheffield Hallam University. She is also the principal co-ordinator of the Disability Research Forum (DRF) and a founding member of the Cultural Disability Studies Research Network (CDSRN). Her main area of research interests is the constitution and regulation of interpretative strategies within cultural disability studies.
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Choosing ‘stereotypes’: debating the efficacy of (British) disability-criticism
Article first published online: 3 MAR 2009
DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-3802.2009.01111.x
© 2009 The Author. Journal compilation © 2009 nasen
Additional Information
How to Cite
Mallett, R. (2009), Choosing ‘stereotypes’: debating the efficacy of (British) disability-criticism. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 9: 4–11. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-3802.2009.01111.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 3 MAR 2009
- Article first published online: 3 MAR 2009
Keywords:
- South Park;
- disability criticism;
- stereotypes
This paper considers how, by paying attention to the divergent use of ‘stereotypes’ as a methodological tool, we concomitantly pay attention to the capacities of contemporary disability-criticism. First, the search for negative stereotypes is described in terms of how it enables the repeated citation of common examples. However, as some areas of disability-criticism have begun to acknowledge that ‘stereotypes’ are not exclusively a negative form, the second part of the paper uses the US cartoon series South Park to explore what sort of interpretations such a troublesome recognition allows. While critical discourse on disability is discussed as a whole, the ultimate aim is to draw some conclusions about the past, present and future of British disability-criticism. The paper concludes by suggesting that recognising the contingency of where we are on how we choose to read representations of disability strengthens debates about how we want to go on.