Representing Male Disability in Colombian Audiovisual Media: The Masking of Social and Political Intersections in Los informantes

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines the discursive construction of male disability in Los informantes, a national Colombian TV show. By combining critical discourse analysis, multimodal discourse analysis, and queer linguistics with (critical) disability studies and crip theory, it examines three TV reports that narrate the lives of a physically disabled Venezuelan migrant, a young Colombian with Down syndrome, and a physically disabled Colombian living in Great Britain. The analysis shows that Los informantes relies on inspirational and individualistic imagery that conceals the role of the neoliberal state in debilitating the lives of these men. By using a set of linguistic, visual, and discursive strategies (the supercrip figure, narrative prosthesis, and inclusionist profitability, among others), the reports mask the social and political aspects of disability. This study contributes to understanding the intersection between language, dis/ability, sexuality, and media in Latin America and questions dominant discursive constructions on disability.