Contemporary American Family on Stage: Disability Justice and Access Intimacy in Stephen Karam’s The Humans
Contemporary American Family on Stage: Disability Justice and Access Intimacy in Stephen Karam’s The Humans
Traditional family dramas have long relied on disability and
queerness as metaphors to depict the dysfunctional states of American
families. Although Stephen Karam’s The Humans borrows elements
from the canon with its portrayal of a family tested by secrets,
resentments, and illnesses, it diverges significantly from the tradition.
As this article demonstrates, the portrayal of disability and caretaking
in The Humans is not stereotypical since it places access intimacy, a
term disability activist Mia Mingus has coined, to the center as a trope
that keeps the family together and gives them strength to be resilient
in the face of drawbacks. In the presence of access intimacy and
reciprocal care, the bond that connects family members to each other is
strengthened. This article argues that although Stephen Karam is not a
disability rights activist, his play The Humans contributes significantly
to the disability justice movement with its focus on access intimacy
within the family.
Keywords:
American Theater, Stephen Karam, The Humans Disability Studies,
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- ISSN: 1300-6606
- Başlangıç: 1995
- Yayıncı: -
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