Abject Magic: Reasoning Madness in Justine Larbalestier's "Magic or Madness" Trilogy

Autor/in	Potter, Troy
Titel	Abject Magic: Reasoning Madness in Justine Larbalestier's "Magic or Madness" Trilogy
Quelle	In: Children's Literature in Education, 45 (2013) 3, S.255-270 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0045-6713
DOI	10.1007/s10583-013-9214-7
Schlagwörter	Adolescent Literature; Novels; Fantasy; Mental Disorders; Females; Feminism; Disabilities; Politics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Adolescent; Adolescents; Literature; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher; literatur; Novel; Roman; Fantasie; Mental illness; Geisteskrankheit; Weibliches Geschlecht; Feminismus; Handicap; Behinderung; Politik
Abstract	This paper explores the representation of magic and madness in Justine Larbalestier's "Magic or Madness" trilogy (2005-2007). Throughout the series, magic is constructed as an abject and disabling force that threatens to disable magic-wielders, either through madness or death. Despite being represented as a ubiquitous force, the consequences of magic are gendered, and the female protagonist of the trilogy, Reason, sets out to remove the threat of magic. The intersections between ableist, magical and feminine discourses are explored via a feminist disability politics and Kristeva's concept of abjection. While, at times, the trilogy challenges the ability/disability binary schism, the narrative closure reaffirms dualistic constructions of reason/madness, ability/disability, reality/fantasy and masculine/feminine. Thus, rather than redressing social attitudes towards mental illness and critiquing normative constructions of disability and the other, Larbalestier's trilogy reaffirms dualistic and normative constructions of mental illness. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10