Analytical Survey: Encountering Disability in the Middle Ages

Abstract

This analytical survey offers an overview of current approaches to disability in medieval literature and culture. The first section traces important medical, social, religious, and cultural models of disability. The second section examines how critical notions of monstrosity and prosthesis inform contemporary analysis of medieval texts. The third section demonstrates connections between medieval literature and activist-oriented criticism. The final section considers cross-historical approaches to disability, including future approaches to disability aesthetics and theory.