The war-wounded and the congenitally impaired
Competing categories of disability in John Buchan's Huntingtower (1922)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12914940 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kate Macdonald (0000-0003-2372-0775, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 7-20 |
| Publication date | 2011-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of War and Culture Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1752-6272 • E-ISSN: 1752-6280 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1386/jwcs.4.1.7_1 |
| OpenAlex | W2049400199 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 13 |
<![CDATA[Physical disability has been described as a 'social process in which no inherent meanings attach to physical difference other than ones assigned by a community'. This article scrutinizes John Buchan's war-wounded ex-soldiers from the perspective of the community for whom Buchan wrote, readers of popular fiction. In his 1922 novel Huntingtower John Buchan's response to the war-disabled soldier is aimed at their 'regeneration', and to 'recover their constrained agency'. But his interpretation also subordinates congenitally impaired civilians to wounded ex-soldiers, which has disturbing implications. This article argues that in making a line of moral demarcation between the war-wounded ex-soldier and the disabled man who could not serve, Buchan's novel reflects a troubling aspect of post-war British society in his alignment of inimical political systems with physical and moral inadequacy.]]>
Agency (philosophy · Ancient history · Art · First world war · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Philosophy · World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |