Disability, Gender, and Social Identity in Modernist Literature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69996/fmep.2026021Keywords:
Disability, Gender, Modernism, Hemingway, Joyce, Richard Wright, BlindnessAbstract
Modernist literature frequently links disability with gender identity, sexuality, and social exclusion. This paper examines Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, James Joyce’s Ulysses, and Richard Wright’s Native Son to explore how disability shapes interpersonal relationships and cultural identity. Hemingway portrays physical injury as a barrier to romantic fulfillment yet preserves masculine identity through Jake Barnes’s emotional resilience [1]. Joyce challenges conventional ideals of feminine perfection through Gerty MacDowell’s limp, presenting disability alongside sexual desire and self-awareness [2]. Wright employs blindness metaphorically in Native Son to expose racial prejudice and moral ignorance within American society [3]. Drawing on Disability Studies, this paper argues that modernist authors simultaneously reproduce and resist stereotypes concerning disabled individuals [4][5]. Rather than presenting disability merely as tragedy, these texts reveal how social attitudes construct exclusion and difference.
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