Subverting ableist discourses as an exercise in precarity: a Zimbabwean case study

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on how ableist discourses and practices seek to ‘normalize’ the disabled body which is deemed to be ‘deviant’. This leads to acts of normalization that expose disabled bodies to precarity, conceived here as the lived experience of marginalization, ostracism and vulnerability. Using the case study of a disability theatre project that was carried out at the University of Zimbabwe and which focused on the experiences of albinism, we argue that disability theatre can subvert ableist discourse through symbolic signification, ritual gesture, satiric humour and other theatrical devices. The precarious experiences of bodily differences such as albinism are invalidated by means of performative strategies that not only serve to deconstruct ableist strategies of containment but also reaffirm the beauty, power and agency of the disabled body.

KEYWORDS:

• Ableism
• normalization
• deviance
• albinism
• disability theatre

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Kennedy C. Chinyowa is a Research Professor in the Department of Drama and Film Studies (Faculty of Arts) at Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa. He was previously the Head of the Dramatic Arts Division at the University of Witwatersrand (2011–2014) and a visiting scholar in the Centre for Applied Theatre Research at Griffith University (2001–2005) where he obtained his PhD degree in Applied Theatre. He has published widely in books, refereed and accredited journals such as RIDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, Studies in Theatre and Performance, Drama Research, Nadie Journal and the South African Theatre Journal. Email: [email protected]

Nehemiah Chivandikwa is a senior lecturer and former Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, where he teaches courses in playmaking, acting and applied theatre. He has published several scholarly articles and book chapters and presented papers at a number of international conferences. In 2005, he took part in a joint Fulbright Scholar Award grant project in community-based theatre. Email: [email protected]

ORCID

Nehemiah Chivandikwa http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0809-7997