Novel Bodies: Disability and Sexuality in Eighteenth-Century British Literature

Novel Bodies explores how disability shapes the British literary history of sexuality, revealing emerging ideas of able-bodiedness and heterosexuality as interconnected systems that sustain dominant models. It demonstrates that disabled and queer characters inhabit strict social orders in unconventional ways, opening up new avenues of expression for readers from the eighteenth century forward.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 224 pages
\n Publication date: 30 May 2019
\n Publisher: Rutgers University Press
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Novel Bodies delves into the intricate relationship between disability and sexuality in the British literary landscape, shedding light on how these two aspects have shaped the political and social terrain of eighteenth-century Britain. Through the insightful analysis of various eighteenth-century novelists, Jason Farr demonstrates how they represent disability and sexuality in flexible and innovative ways, reconfiguring the dominant narratives of the time. By drawing parallels between the lived experience of disability and queer genders and sexualities, the authors featured in Novel Bodies challenge established notions of able-bodiedness and heterosexuality, revealing them as interconnected systems that perpetuate dominant models of courtship, reproduction, and degeneracy.

Furthermore, Farr argues that these novelists utilize the intersections of disability and queerness to stage a wide range of contemporaneous debates, encompassing diverse topics such as education, feminism, domesticity, medicine, and plantation life. By closely examining the fiction of notable figures like Eliza Haywood, Samuel Richardson, Sarah Scott, Maria Edgeworth, and Frances Burney, Farr showcases how disabled and queer characters inhabit strict social orders in unconventional ways, thus opening up new avenues of expression for readers from the eighteenth century onward.

Published by Bucknell University Press, Novel Bodies has gained recognition for its groundbreaking contributions to the field of literary studies. Its distribution is handled by Rutgers University Press, ensuring that its insights reach a global audience. Through its exploration of the complex interplay between disability and sexuality, Novel Bodies offers a fresh perspective on the historical and cultural dynamics of eighteenth-century Britain, contributing to our understanding of the past and its enduring impact on the present.

\n Weight: 314g\n
Dimension: 231 x 157 x 12 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781684481071\n \n