Representations of Disabled Characters in Contemporary Upper Middle-Grade Children's Literature

当代中高中儿童文学中残疾人物的表现

• 批准号: 2893537
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Nottingham Trent University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2893537
• 关键词: Representations; Disabled; Characters; Contemporary; Upper

This creative and critical (50%-50%) project explores representations of disability in British children'sfiction. The critical component considers the roles and prevalence of disabled protagonists in uppermiddle-grade fiction (for 11-14-year-olds) identifying reasons for any shortfall (i.e., a lack of opportunitiesfor disabled writers) and subsequent societal impacts (focussing on the intended readership). It will bethe first in-depth study on this topic: analysing the current body of work and focussing on the creation ofdisabled protagonists by disabled/non-disabled authors for upper middle-grade, and related ethicalarguments. In dialogue with this, the creative research is an upper middle-grade novel written from theperspective of a 13-year-old with a spinal injury, illuminating her experiences, specifically how herdisability influences her worldview and actions.Context3.9% of surveyed children's novels published in 2019 contained disabled main characters (CCBC, 2019);however, Scope's 2019 report states 8% of UK children identify as disabled. Jill Coleman, BookTrust'sDirector of Children's Books, suggest 'Stories and characters [...] affect how [children] see themselvesand the world around them' (BookTrust, 2021). This is true for all children, but particularly pertinent forthose with a disability, to foster their aspirations, as well as helping non-disabled children view 'disabilityas part of the norm' (Strick, 2017). Without this view, classroom divides can develop (Reijer & McGrail,2015). Research suggests divides between disabled and non-disabled children are particularly harmful inthe middle-grade stage when 'conversation and debate' of 'foreign concepts and problems' typicallyoccurs (Glass, 2017; Lipoff, 2011).7 / 23Research Questions:1. How is the upper middle-grade age group impacted by underrepresentation of disability?2. How can literary texts provide platforms for positive change?3. What challenges are faced around representation and self-representation regarding authorship?4. How can writing positively change perceptions of disability?MethodologyThe critical element begins by investigating the current body of middle-grade work featuring disabledmain characters exploring how representation impacts the readership. The creative work begins withpractical research organised via M4C's partner, the National Paralympic Heritage Trust (leveraging theirrelationship with the wider disabled community). Agreement in principle has been reached with NPHT todeliver creative writing workshops within the disabled community investigating how positive disabledcharacters can be created sensitively. In dialogue with this research, an upper middle-grade novelfeaturing a 13-year-old disabled protagonist will be created, the workshop cohort providing vitalsensitivity feedback as it is drafted. Findings will be documented in the critical component (middle gradeauthors and publishers will also be interviewed to capture their views and experiences, and relevantwork critically analysed).Writing creatively is essential for bringing to life the issues of representation for the readership, providingthe positive benefit of the creation of a three-dimensional upper middle-grade disabled character.ImpactThe project provides improved knowledge of the benefits of representation through creative research.Initiating cultural exchange via the National Paralympics Heritage Trust, by hosting a programme ofwriting workshops the project promotes disabled (own voice) and non-disabled writers to sensitivelycreate a legacy of positive and authentic disabled characters.

这个创造性和关键的（50％-50％）项目探讨了英国儿童小说中残疾的表现。关键组成部分考虑了残疾人主角在上级小说中的作用和普遍性（对于11-14岁的年轻人），以确定任何缺口的原因（即缺乏残疾作家的机会）以及随后的社会影响（重点是注重读者群）。它将对此主题进行首次深入研究：分析当前的工作体系，并专注于通过残疾/非潜在的中级中级和相关道德规范的作者创建脱节的主角。在与此对话中，创造性研究是一部从脊柱受伤的13岁男孩的角度撰写的中级小说，阐明了她的经历，特别是遗传性如何影响她的世界观和行动。Context3.9％于2019年发表的被调查的儿童小说2019年出版了残疾人的主要角色（CCBC，2019年）；吉尔·科尔曼（Jill Coleman）是儿童读物书籍的院长，建议“故事和人物[...]影响[孩子]如何看待自己和周围的世界”（BookTrust，2021）。对于所有儿童而言，这是正确的，但尤其是与残疾的相关性，以促进他们的愿望，并帮助非弱势儿童视为“残疾的一部分”（Strick，2017年）。没有这种观点，教室鸿沟就可以发展（Reijer＆McGrail，2015年）。研究表明，在“外国概念和问题”的“对话和辩论”通常会销售时，在中级阶段，残疾儿童和非残疾儿童之间的划分特别有害（Glass，2017; Lipoff，2011年）.7 / 23研究问题：1。中年年龄段如何受到残疾的代表性不足的影响？2。文学文本如何为积极变化提供平台？3。关于作者身份的代表和自我代表面临哪些挑战？4。写作如何积极地改变对残疾的看法？方法论开始，关键因素首先调查了当前的中级工作的身体，这些中级工作的特色是残疾人角色，探讨了表示形式如何影响读者群。创意工作始于通过M4C的合作伙伴（国家残奥遗产信托基金会（利用与更广泛的残疾社区）的关系）组织的实践研究。原则上，已经与NPHT Todeliver创意写作讲习班达成了共识，调查了如何敏感地创建积极的残疾人。在与这项研究的对话中，将创建一个中级中级新手，正在创建一个13岁的残疾人主角，该车间队列提供了起草的生命力反馈。调查结果将记录在关键组成部分中（中级毕业者和出版商也将接受访谈以捕捉他们的观点和经验，并进行了相关的工作，并进行了彻底的分析）。创造性地写作对于使读者的代表性提交至关重要，为读者提供了代表性的问题，从而通过构成的界限来实现了宗教的成就。残奥会遗产信托基金会通过举办一个编写研讨会的计划来促进残疾人（自己的语音）和非障碍作家，以敏感地创造了积极和正宗的残疾人物的遗产。