Handicap als narratieve prothese in het werk van Kader Abdolah | Amsterdam University Press Journals Online
2004
Volume 27, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 1384-5829
  • E-ISSN: 2352-118X

Abstract

Abstract

Kader Abdolah, a Dutch author of Iranian origin, repeatedly sketches father and mother characters who can be seen as representations of his own parents. As they are handicapped in their ability to communicate (the father is deaf and the mother suffers from deteriorating dementia) the son takes upon himself the task to tell their stories. This article presents an analysis of Abdolah’s works in which father and mother figures feature prominently, [Cuneiform] (2000) and [The Curtain] (2017). Referring to theoretical studies about the representation of proximate others in autobiographical writing, an attempt is made to answer the question about the character of these representations and their role. Because both parents are disabled, the analysis presented here is based furthermore on theoretical studies concerning representations of disability in (autobiographical) literature. As it turns out, disability is often being used as a narrative prosthesis that serves the author to catch the readers’ attention and to frame his or her story. As a result, disabled others are often being ‘absented’: their stories are being subordinated to the author’s own purpose, presenting themselves to their readership in a particular way.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5117/NEDLET2022.2.004.DYNA
2022-09-01
2024-03-28
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Abdolah, Kader, ‘De adelaars’, in: De adelaars. Breda, De Geus, 1993, 85-100.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Abdolah, Kader, Spijkerschrift. Breda, De Geus, 2000.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Abdolah, Kader, Het gordijn. Amsterdam, Prometheus, 2017.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Adams, Lorraine, ‘Almost Famous: The Rise of the “Nobody” Memoir’, in: Washington Monthly, Apr.2002. Geraadpleegd op 6oktober2019, http:/washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0204.adams.html.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Alcoff, Linda, ‘The Problem of Speaking for Others’, in: Cultural Critique20, Winter, 1991-1992, 5-32.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bijbel, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling, Nederlandse Bijbelgenootschap, Haarlem, 2004/2007. Geraadpleegd op 12februari2021, https://bijbel.eo.nl/.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Bongers-Dek, Willlem, De verteller van de waarheid: Aspecten van Kader Abdolahs posture (1993-2011). Ongepubliceerde Research Master-scriptie. Utrecht, Universiteit Utrecht, 2011.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Couser, G. Thomas, ‘Collaborative authobiography’, in: MargarettaJolly (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Life Writing. London, Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001, 222-223. Geraadpleegd op 6oktober2021, https://www.academia.edu/8516979/Collaborative_Autobiography.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Couser, G. Thomas, Vulnerable Subjects: Ethics and Life Writing. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 2004.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Couser, G. Thomas, Signifying Bodies: Disability in Contemporary Life Writing. Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press, 2009.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Couser, G. Thomas, ‘Vulnerable Subjects: Caveat Scriptor’, A talk given at a conference: “Attentive Writers: Healthcare, Authorship, and Authority”, Glasgow University, August2013. Geraadpleegd op 6oktober2021, https://www.academia.edu/4404401/Vulnerable_Subjects_Caveat_Scriptor.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Couser, G. Thomas, ‘Vulnerable Subjects: Illness, Disability, and Ethical Life Writing’, An invited lecture given at Mainz University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, October 2016. Geraadpleegd op 6oktober2021, https://www.academia.edu/28960268/Vulnerable_Subjects_Illness_Disability_and_Ethical_Lifewriting.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Couser, G. Thomas, ‘Philippe Lejeune: An American(ist)’s Appreciation’, in: The European Journal of Life WritingVII, 2018, 79-84.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. De Boer, Sietske, ‘Afscheid van de vader’, in: Contrast, 13april2000.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. De Jong, Anneriek, ‘Weg uit Saffraandorp’, in: NRC Handelsblad, 7april2000.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Dynarowicz, Ewa, ‘Tussen autobiografie en fictie: Genealogie als performatieve strategie in Kader Abdolahs proza’, in: Vooys34, 2016, 8-18.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Eakin, Paul John, How Our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1999.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Eakin, Paul John (ed.), An Ethics of Life Writing. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 2004.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Garland Thomson, Rosemarie, Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature. New York, Columbia University Press, 1997.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Greenspahn, Fredrick E.‘Ishmael’, in: Encyclopaedia of Religion. Vol. 7. Detroit, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005 [1987], 4551.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Halberstam, Judith, Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters. Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 1995.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Hall, Alice, Literature and Disability. London/New York, Routledge, 2016.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Ham, Laurens, Door Prometheus geboeid: De autonomie en autoriteit van de moderne Nederlandse auteur. Hilversum, Uitgeverij Verloren, 2015.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Hardwig, John, ‘Autobiography, Biography, and Narrative Ethics’, in: HildeLindemann Nelson (ed.), Stories and their Limits: Narrative Approaches to Bioethics. New York/London, Routledge, 1997, 50-64.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Heddon, Deirdre, ‘To absent friends: Ethics in the Field of Auto/biography’, in: Political Performances: Theory and Practice4, 2009, 111-133.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Kellerhuis, Tom, ‘Kader Abdolah is onvermijdelijk’, in HP/De Tijd, 11juni2008.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Knols, Karolien, ‘Ik heb een fundament gelegd’, in: de Volkskrant, 26april2008.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Laning, Dick, ‘Ik diende m’n doofstomme vader’, in: Noordhollands Dagblad, 28april2000.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Lejeune, Philippe, ‘The Autobiography of Those Who Do Not Write’, in: Katherine M.Leary (eds.), On Autobiography. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1989.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Lejeune, Philippe, Le pacte autobiographique. Seuil, coll. “Poétique”, 1975.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Luis, Janet, ‘Spreekbuis van een sprakeloze vader’, in: NRC Handelsblad, 28april2000.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Missinne, Lut, ‘De ontdekking van de “autofiction”’, in: Parmentier18, 2009, 19-25.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Mitchell, David T. and Sharon L.Snyder, Narrative Prosthesis: Disability and the Dependencies of Discourse. Michigan, The University of Michigan Press, 2000.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Meizoz, Jérôme, Postures littéraires. Mises en scène modernes de l’auteur. Genève, Slatkine, 2007.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Meizoz, Jérôme, La fabrique des singularités. Postures littéraires II. Genève, Slatkine, 2011.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Montello, Martha. ‘Confessions and Transgressions: Ethics and Life Writing’, in: Hastings Center Report, March-April, 2006, 46-47.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Pronk, Iris, ‘Ik heb kelders vol’, in: Trouw, 2april2005.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Neefjes, Annemiek, ‘Uitersten aan elkaar geklonken: een duivelse opgave’, in: Vrij Nederland, 29april2000.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Riemersma, Greta, ‘Proza dat ruikt naar aardappelen en gras’, in: de Volkskrant, 14april1997.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Voorst, Sandra, van,‘Wordt vervolgd: de receptie van de Nederlandse migrantenliteratuur’, in: Neerlandica Extra Muros45.1, 2007, 11-22.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Wagenaar, Leonoor, ‘Behoefte aan wraak op een literaire manier’, in: Het Parool, 4oktober1994.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Weijts, Christiaan, ‘Moeders zonder opsmuk’, in: De Groene Amsterdammer, 18maart2019, 12.
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.5117/NEDLET2022.2.004.DYNA
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error