This panel aims to address the question of the representation of disability in world cinema (fiction and documentary), while moving away from a purely historical approach that would primarily focus on the evolution of representation of disability to consider how Disability Studies have enabled us to reconsider the cinematic representations of disability. This panel hinges on the assumption that Disability Studies have given rise to a series of critical and theoretical tools, as well as to a renewed perception of disability that no longer sees it as a hindrance, but rather as a driving force for creation.

Presentation

This panel aims to address the question of the representation of disability in world cinema (fiction and documentary), while moving away from a purely historical approach that would primarily focus on the evolution of representation of disability to consider how Disability Studies have enabled us to reconsider the cinematic representations of disability. This panel hinges on the assumption that Disability Studies have given rise to a series of critical and theoretical tools, as well as to a renewed perception of disability that no longer sees it as a hindrance, but rather as a driving force for creation.

One of the objectives of this panel will thus be to observe how a certain number of artists working today are seizing on the question of disability to provide subjective and non-hegemonic representations that are often overlooked in more mainstream productions. Our approach for this panel is rooted in what constitutes the heart of Disability Studies, namely the possibility that the latter have offered to bring forth new modes of representation that value the lived experience of disabled people.

We welcome presentations that choose to explore the ways in which the theoretical tools developed by Disability Studies have fostered the creative process of artists who no longer perceive disability as the sole defining feature of an individual, but instead seek to translate the subjectivity of the disabled person through the affective power of the audiovisual medium. We are particularly interested in presentations that focus on works whose primary goal is to avoid the essentialization of disability.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

-The possibilities offered by the audiovisual medium to convey a more subjective and affective representation of disability (i.e. haptic images);

-How these modes of representation have redefined spectatorship and the way we approach images;

-How disabled artists are using the audiovisual medium to translate their own experience of disability.

Submission guidelines

Click on the following link to submit your abstract: https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/Home/S/19138

before April 30, 2024

• length of abstract: No longer than 500 words
• conference website: https://www.pamla.org/ 
• event date: November 7-November 10, 2024 (Palm Springs)

Scientific coordinator

Romain Chareyron (roc104@usask.ca), Assistant Professor of French, University of Saskatchewan