The Illegible Man: Disability and Masculinity in Twentieth Century America

How does the sudden onset of disability impact the sense of self in a person whose identity was, at least in part, predicated on the possession of what is culturally understood to be an ＂able＂ body? How does this experience make visible the structures enabling society’s shared notions of heteronormative masculinity?

In the United States, the Second World War functioned as a key moment in the emergence of modern understandings of disability, demonstrating that an increased concern with disability in the postwar period would ultimately lead to greater incoherence in the definitions and cultural meanings of disability in America. The Illegible Man examines depictions of disability in American film and literature in twentieth-century postwar contexts, beginning with the first World War and continuing through America’s war in Vietnam. Will Kanyusik searches for the origin of discourse surrounding disability and masculinity after the Second World War, examining both literature and film--both fiction and documentary--their depictions of disability and masculinity, and how many of these texts were created by the relationship between the culture industry and the Office of War Information in the 1940s.

Supported by original archival research, The Illegible Man presents a new understanding of disability, masculinity, and war in American culture.

Will Kanyusik is Associate Professor of English at Loras College.