Blindness as identity

Abstract

This thesis is a literary ethnology of blindness. The data are gathered from autobiographies published in the United States in the last decade of the twentieth century. Issues common to a third or more of the authors are analyzed using social science theories, especially social psychology theories on identity. Major patterns of response to blindness are discovered, including both rejection and embracement of the blind identity. These responses are found to be associated with either negative or positive evaluations of blindness. Negative evaluations, in which people who are blind are viewed as dependent and weak, are associated with rejection of blind identity. Positive evaluations, in which people who are blind are viewed as independent and strong, are associated with acceptance of blind identity. Variety in positive and negative evaluations of blindness is found over a range of issues that include psychological, sociological, cultural, and political themes.