Bakhtin's Dialogism: A Study of R.J. Palacio's Wonder

Abstract

Mikhail Bakhtin is one of the most important theorists of dialogical discourse in the twentieth century. His most influential theoretical notions related to modern novel are Dialogism, Polyphony and Heteroglossia. Within the Bakhtinian theoretical context the study argues that Palacio's Wonder discusses the issue of disability through different perspectives, namely the deformed face, August, and other characters. The novel is a call and response between August whose deformed face places him in the position of inferior Otherness and other characters whose normality identifies them as the superior Self. This is tackled through the technique of multiple narrative voices. The study aims at answering the following questions: Does Palacio raise the issue of diversity in her Wonder because she is inspired by her personal experience or she is completely detached and thus deals with the issue of disability as a relative truth that is in need for discussion through dialogical perspectives. The study relies theoretically on Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of dialogisms. Also, it tackles the theory of disability and the issue of giving voice to the disabled since they form an important group in society. The research’s main goal is to give voice to the silenced people, namely disabled and deformed individuals. This goal motivates feelings of sympathy, empathy, and thus solidarity. In fact, Palacio's Wonder was chosen because it talks about a disabled boy in a clever way giving him a chance to be a productive individual in society. Since disabled people form a wide social group, therefor there must be studies which handle their problems and to encourage them to be better persons in spite of their deformity. The main significance of the research is to show the experimental technique of modern and postmodern novel that is dialogisms. The present study is divided into two sections and a conclusion. Section one places the novel in its theoretical, literary, and historical backgrounds. Section two discusses August's issue of deformed face through multiple points of view in the novel, namely August, Via, and Summer. The last part is the conclusion which includes the findings of the study.