The essay by Schalk problematizes the use of
disability metaphors in feminist arguments since they associate negativity with
impairment, which conceptually marginalize and ostracize people with
disabilities. Schalk argues that these metaphors indirectly contribute to sanctioning
ableist language, since “metaphors rely upon presuppositions
or assume a shared understanding and knowledge of the chosen concrete item.”
Regarding that all readers understand this shared understanding on the same
basis and affiliating negativity with different bodily experiences fails to “recognize
the social dimension of metaphor and the key role that language plays in
realizing these social and political values.” In this light, I align language
with visual culture. Like visual culture, language is political and not always
neutral. We read images based on our respective experiences and knowledge,
which results in multiple interpretations. These sets of processes through
which individuals come to make sense of things are based on multi-layered
contexts of their background. Acknowledging and understanding how viewers
identify with image and examining how they gain meaning in various cultural
contexts can also be applied to the process of using language. Being mindful of
the “open-endedness of our inherently metaphoric language,” the complex
implication of the language, and the concept of inclusion in using them will
foster shared practices of producing meanings.
No comments:
Post a Comment