Jan Grue

Body language. Presentations of Functional Disability in Culture and Society

This is a book about the body generally and unusual bodies in particular. It concerns how we think, write and talk about bodies and about how there is a central division between people with bodies classified as normal and people with bodies classified as unusual. In order to understand how this division has arisen, both cultural and societal analysis is necessary.

Body Language looks at functional disability as a central concept – because our modern concept of functional disability embraces many of the important aspects of what it means to have an unusual body. The book discusses Norwegian and international examples of the presentation of unusual bodies and provides an introduction to recent research on functional disability.

English sample translation available

Gyldendal Akademisk 2014