Awkward silences?: Inclusivity and the spectacle of speech disability

Mattacks, Kate

Abstract

This article explores the myth that the Victorians were preoccupied with removing the disabled from public view. Rather the huge number of melodramas that figure characters who cannot speak place these images on view in a complex negotiation between inclusivity through demonstrations of sign language and audience-driven spectacle.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Jul 23, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 15, 2016
• Journal: Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film
• Print ISSN: 1748-3727
• Electronic ISSN: 2048-2906
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: melodrama, disability, performance, sign language
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/980231
• Publisher URL: http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/cgi-bin/scribe?showinfo=ip026
• Contract Date: Nov 15, 2016