[nabs-l] Research: Representation of blindness in literature

Sat Apr 27 16:44:35 UTC 2013

What kind of message does the Blindness book mean to convey about
Spanish culture? I haven't read the book, so I am genuinely curious. I
still don't think it is right for a writer to use a whole group of
people as an allegorical symbol, but I'm open to at least hear what
kind of justification the author has for writing such a book.
Arielle

On 4/27/13, Carly Mihalakis <carlymih at comcast.net> wrote:
> On Blindness, having read the book, I found it a
> very enlightening examination of Spanish culture
> and believe it has a rightful place in
> literature. People, just calm down. We have
> entities such as the Federation and other such
> entities espousing blind independence to
> thunder  that particular message. The story of
> Blindness has an equally relevant message.
> Car personally seen
>>the movie or read the book, but I'm not sure if I'd want to. <Smile.>
>>
>>Chris Nusbaum, Co-Chair
>>Public Relations Committee
>>Maryland Association of Blind Students
>>Phone: (443) 547-2409
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Greg Aikens
>>Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 3:42 PM
>>To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Research: Representation of blindness in literature
>>
>>Perhaps some more controversial titles would include Blindness by
>> portuguese
>>author Jose Saramago.  This was turned into a film a few years ago and
>>caused a stir in our community because the negative ways people behave and
>>respond when a blindness epidemic hits.  I have not read the book but the
>>film was quite disturbing.
>>
>>A classic from spanish literature is El Lazarillo de Tornes, the story of
>> a
>>young child who gets hired to lead a blind man around in early medieval
>>Spain.  Again, not the most flattering portrayal of blind people.  I had
>> to
>>read it for a spanish lit class in college.
>>
>>I know these aren't Swedish or children's literature, but any survey of
>> the
>>topic might want to include negative examples as well as positive ones.
>>
>>
>>On Apr 25, 2013, at 9:48 AM, "justin williams"
>> <justin.williams2 at gmail.com>
>>wrote:
>>
>> > No, we're just not that cool.  Big ups to Baltimore.
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>> > christopher nusbaum
>> > Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 9:34 AM
>> > To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> > Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Research: Representation of blindness in
>> > literature
>> >
>> > Yeah... do you have a book with blind characters that is set in your
>> > area?
>> > Grin!
>> >
>> > Chris Nusbaum
>> >
>> > Sent from my iPhone
>> >
>> > On Apr 26, 2013, at 8:23 AM, justin williams
>> > <justin.williams2 at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >> Givingyourself a plug.  Nothing wrong witht that man.  Grin.
>> >>
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>> >> christopher nusbaum
>> >> Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 7:00 AM
>> >> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> >> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Research: Representation of blindness in
>> >> literature
>> >>
>> >> I would also recommend Blindsided by Prescilla Commings. Although
>> >> this book is also modern and American, I very much enjoyed reading it
>> >> and thought the author did a good job of portraying blind people in a
>> >> way that didn't evoke the reader's pity. Granted, it talks about the
>> >> struggles that Natalie (the main character) goes through while
>> >> adjusting to her blindness, especially her anxiety and outright
>> >> refusal to use her cane (at first.) I may have a little bias toward
>> >> this book, since it is set at the Maryland School for the Blind just
>> >> down the road from me in Baltimore. :) But even if it were not set
>> >> here, I would still recommend it to all of you. BTW, the NFB and our
>> >> national center are mentioned a few times in this book! If you would
>> >> like
>> > to read it, Blindsided is available from Bookshare. Happy reading!!
>> >>
>> >> Chris Nusbaum
>> >>
>> >> Sent from my iPhone
>> >>
>> >> On Apr 26, 2013, at 12:05 AM, Julie McGinnity <kaybaycar at gmail.com>
>>wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> There is a book called Girl, Stolen by April Henry that is about a
>> >>> blind girl who is kidnapped.  Jane Eyre is a good one in my opinion.
>> >>> But if you're looking for something a bit more about blind
>> >>> characters adjusting to blindness you can always find Follow my
>> >>> Leader.  Blind Sighted is another more recent one.  If you want
>> >>> something a little more fantastical, there is a blind character in
>> >>> Libba Bray's new book the Diviners.  There is also Beastly, which
>> >>> was made into a movie a couple years ago.  But those are more modern
>> >>> and American(except for Jane Eyre).  Even so, they might be
>> >>> interesting
>>reads for you.
>> >>>
>> >>> On 4/25/13, Joe <jsoro620 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>> Focus on the Family featured a blind character in their Adventures
>> >>>> in Odyssey series. Not literature, strictly speaking, though the
>> >>>> radio show did produce some films and book editions, I believe.
>> >>>> Also, I forget the exact name of the book, but was it something
>> >>>> like The Seeing Summer? It's about the girl who is kidnapped and
>> >>>> held for ransom.--Joe
>> >>>>
>> >>>> -----Original Message-----
>> >>>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carrie
>> >>>> Gilmer
>> >>>> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 3:54 PM
>> >>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> >>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Research: Representation of blindness in
>> >>>> literature
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Hello-
>> >>>> Two of my best friends from college were international students
>> >>>> from Sweden, over 25 years ago. we are still very close.  Asked
>> >>>> them what they knew. they both said they can recall absolutely no
>> >>>> blind character in lit anywhere from childhood or young adulthood,
>> >>>> and both also had never seen a blind person until sometime after
>> >>>> coming to
>> > U.S.
>> >> ...may be a difficult  or sparse topic.
>> >>>> best of luck
>> >>>> Carrie
>> >>>> Sent from my iPad
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Apr 23, 2013, at 9:55 PM, Kaiti Shelton
>> >>>> <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com>
>> >>>> wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>>> Hi,
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> I don't know of anything specifically Swedish, but I've seen
>> >>>>> several depictions of blindness depicted in English literature.
>> >>>>> There is one book called, "Hannah," where a blind girl wants to go
>> >>>>> to
>> > school.
>> >>>>> She seems super dependent in there to me, but the book is also set
>> >>>>> in the 19th century so back then that might have been more common.
>> >>>>> In the end she participates in some sort of harvesting contest to
>> >>>>> try to raise money to buy a brailler, and when she can't fathom
>> >>>>> how she's won she finds that the town kept putting their picked
>> >>>>> fruits/vegitables in her basket instead of their own.  There is
>> >>>>> also a book I've come across called, "From Charlie's Point of
>> >>>>> View, although I haven't really read it.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On 4/23/13, Leye-Shprintse <leyeshprintse at ymail.com> wrote:
>> >>>>>> BS"D
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Dear NABS,
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> I'm a blind student and it's time for me to start writing my
>> >>>>>> thesis.
>> >>>>>> I've chosen to write about the representation of blindness in
>> >>>>>> Swedish children's and youth literature. I wonder if you've some
>> >>>>>> ideas where I can rasearch information to my thesis, do you know
>> >>>>>> if someone else have written about this subject? I think it's a
>> >>>>>> very important subject but since Swedish isn't a big language I
>> >>>>>> can't find so much information here. I'm happy for all ideas you
>> >>>>>> can give me! It feels so big to write a thesis so I'm a bit
>> > overwhelmed!
>> >>>>>> Forgive my bad English!
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Kind regards,
>> >>>>>> Leye-Shprintse
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Envoyé de mon iPad
>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>> >>>>>> %40gmail.com
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> --
>> >>>>> Kaiti
>> >>>>>
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>> >>>>
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>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> Julie McG
>> >>> National Association of Guide dog Users board member,  National
>> >>> Federation of the Blind performing arts division secretary, Missouri
>> >>> Association of Guide dog Users President, and Guiding Eyes for the
>> >>> Blind graduate 2008 "For God so loved the world that he gave his
>> >>> only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but
>> >>> may have eternal life."
>> >>> John 3:16
>> >>>
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