Jan Grue

Body language. Presentations of Functional Disability in Culture and Society

Kroppsspråk. Fremstillinger av funksjonshemning i kultur og samfunn

This is a book about the body generally and unusual bodies in particular. It concerns how we think, write and talk about bodies and about how there is a central division between people with bodies classified as normal and people with bodies classified as unusual. In order to understand how this division has arisen, both cultural and societal analysis is necessary.

Body Language looks at functional disability as a central concept – because our modern concept of functional disability embraces many of the important aspects of what it means to have an unusual body. The book discusses Norwegian and international examples of the presentation of unusual bodies and provides an introduction to recent research on functional disability.

English sample translation available

Gyldendal Akademisk 2014

Bok 532
Forfatter 532
Photo: Rolf M. Aagaard

Jan Grue is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo. His research is at the intersection of disability studies, critical discourse analysis, and rhetoric, and is particularly focused on the role of concepts, models, and theories of disability.

Publications on the topic include Discourse analysis and disability: Some topics and issues (2011) and Rhetorics of difference: Julia Kristeva and disability (2012). He is currently working on a project about chronic illness, disease prestige and conceptual frameworks.