Physical Disability in British Romantic Literature

Reviews / Votes

'Joshua uses writing about disability and disability theory to bring a new perspective to her analysis of these texts. As a result, this is an important contribution to literary criticism of the Romantic era. There is a larger historical significance too in her careful reading of the nuance of language and the evolution of terminology we use in our discussions of disability history.' Rosamund Oates, H-Disability 'Joshua's book demonstrates the need for scholars studying topics as wide-ranging as Jacobin politics and novels, proto-feminist writing, the Romantic encounter poem, aesthetics, the marriage plot, and the gothic to develop and account for historically speci?c concepts of pre-disability.' Corey Goergen, The Wordsworth Circle 'It is steeped in the intricate minutiae of period-speci?c group terms around the modern concept of disability. This book has succeeded wonderfully in making the most out of those archival silences in disability history ... The greatest contribution of this book is to deepen our understanding of the long history of representation by offering a detailed peek into the unfamiliar language of Romantic-era disability. The historicist warning, however, is well-taken, and writing the history of disabled people will continue to require both Joshua's corrective archive and Sharpe's reparative anachronism.' Fuson Wang, European Romantic Review '... a deeply researched and thought-provoking examination of Romantic-era representations of physical impairment and nonimpairment.' Paul Kelleher, Modern Philology 'Physical Disability is likely to be a foundational text for Romantic disability studies going forward.' Hannah Chaskin, Keats-Shelley Journal '... prompts us to more fully and clearly explain how disability emerges and flourishes in literature before the twentieth century.' Paul Kelleher, Modern Philology '... suggests a road map for Romanticists wishing to delve into the historical relation between disability and the literature of that time. Joshua's study is a salutary reminder of what might be gained or lost by ongoing approaches (including my own) not shying away from a presentism reading the archives of the nineteenth century or earlier.' Orrin N. C. Wang, SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900