Normalizing bodily difference in authobiographical narratives of the Central European armless wonders Carl Hermann Unthan and František Filip
2012
Abstract
The study discloses how discourses of difference, narratives of normalcy, and supercrip scenarios intermingled throughout shaping subjectivites self articulated in autobiographical accounts of pre-World War II Central Europe's top Armless Wonder performers, German Carl Hermann Unthan renowned for his violin performances and Czech František Filip celebrated as "an exemplary entrepreneur" of his nation. My focus is on how bodily difference could overlap with culturally determined ideologies of modern nationalism, capitalism, liberal individualism, economic productivity, civic fitness, and ideals of completeness and homogeneity.