Professor Sarah Dauncey, University of Nottingham

Health, wealth and happiness…? The emotional dynamics and social complexities of ‘becoming disabled’ and ‘living well’ in contemporary China

This talk explores the tensions around disability and the politics of the ‘good life’ through the contemporary Chinese cultural context. Recently published memoirs of disability will be analysed to understand how individuals with acquired impairments navigate environments where their newly disabled lives must be continually mapped against ableist norms and values of personhood and well-being. How do they negotiate the transition from being someone who is apparently healthy to someone who is considered ‘ill’, from being someone who can be relatively autonomous and self-supporting to someone who is dependent upon others for care, from being someone who has the potential for social and emotional fulfilment to someone who is pitied or derided? What happens to those dreams of ‘health, wealth and happiness’? More broadly, what are the implications of all of this for disability studies and the medical humanities? What can we contribute that may help individuals ‘live well’ within the particular context of their conditions and the socio-cultural environment in which they live? 

All welcome — please email steven.wilson@qub.ac.uk for further details or to be added to the Centre's mailing list