Inextricably Tied: Gender, Race, Chronic Illness, and Disability in the Works of Edelma Zapata Pérez-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Inextricably Tied: Gender, Race, Chronic Illness, and Disability in the Works of Edelma Zapata Pérez

Published:2019-05-01 Issue:1 Volume:45 Page:205-220
ISSN:2637-9961
Container-title:Journal of Gender and Sexuality Studies / Revista de Estudios de Género y Sexualidades
language:en
Short-container-title:

Author:

Ossa Luisa Marcela¹

Affiliation:

1. La Salle University

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the works of Colombian author Edelma Zapata Pérez as disability life writing, that is, literature that gives the disabled author agency (Couser). Since Zapata Pérez was multi-ethnic and disabled, Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality is utilized to demonstrate that these identities are intertwined in her life and writings. Subsequently, Zapata Pérez’s representations of disability are examined via Siebers’s idea of complex embodiment, which “raises awareness of the effects of disabling environments on people’s lived experience of the body, but it emphasizes as well that some factors affecting disability, such as chronic pain, secondary health effects, and aging, derive from the body.”

Publisher

Michigan State University Press

Subject

General Earth and Planetary Sciences,General Environmental Science

Link

https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/msup/regs/article-pdf/45/1/205/1024680/jgendsexustud.45.1.0205.pdf

Reference31 articles.

1. 1 I will primarily use identity-first language, ex. disabled person, instead of person-first language, ex. person with a disability. While there is not a consensus, the growing preference among disabled people is for identity-first language. As Imani Barbarin explains, “users of this language feel that disability is nothing to be ashamed of and that placing disability in a prominent space within their identity choice allows for direct acknowledgement of their difficulty in finding accessibility to society.” Also see Cara Liebowitz, “I am Disabled.”

2. 2 This passage references G. Thomas Couser’s “Disability, Life Narrative and Representation” (605).

3. 3 While the use of hombre/man have fallen out of favor to represent people/humanity, Zapata is using these terms to represent humanity, not just men. Americano/American refers to people from the Americas, not the just the United States, as is a common use within the U.S.

4. 4 “Mientras agonizo” is the title of the Spanish translation of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. In her essay, Zapata Pérez indicates her title is a nod to Faulkner’s work.

5. Antebi, Susan, and Beth E. Jörgensen. “Introduction.” Libre Acceso: Latin American Literature and Film through Disability Studies. New York: SUNY Press, 2015. 1-26. Reprint edition, Kindle edition. Web.