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384284

“It won’t hurt to learn something tonight”: Blindness and the Power of Touch in Raymond Carver’s Cathedral

Article

Last updated: 05 Jan 2025

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Abstract

Raymond Carver's short story Cathedral has been widely praised for its positive portrayal of disability and departure from negative stereotypes. However, the focus of this paper is to examine the role of blindness as a narrative device in the story. Specifically, it explores the experiences of blindness, emphasizing the interaction between blindness and touch. Drawing from disability studies, the paper argues that disability offers a valid perspective on the world, rather than being marginalized. This analysis is based on David Mitchell and Sharon L. Snyder's concept of narrative prosthesis, which posits that narratives utilize disability to enrich and advance literary storytelling. Furthermore, the paper delves into Shannon Walters' concept of "rhetorical touch" as a potent means of identification, reinforcing the notion that tactile experiences are as valued as visual experiences. Through this framework, the argument is presented that Carver uses blindness to question and destabilize the dominance of visual perception in verbal communication and underscore the importance of affective and non-verbal communication in all its manifestations.

DOI

10.21608/abjltl.2024.293147.1066

Keywords

Blindness, Carver, “Cathedral”, touch, Disability

Authors

First Name

Mohammed

Last Name

Sumili

MiddleName

Ali

Affiliation

Department of Foreign Languages, College of Arts and Humanities, Jazan University, Saudi Arabia

Email

m.sumaili@gmail.com

City

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Orcid

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Volume

4

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

47164

Issue Date

2024-12-01

Receive Date

2024-05-27

Publish Date

2024-12-01

Page Start

192

Page End

206

Print ISSN

2805-2633

Online ISSN

2805-2641

Link

https://abjltl.journals.ekb.eg/article_384284.html

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https://abjltl.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=384284

Order

384,284

Type

Original Article

Type Code

2,211

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Alsun Beni-Suef International Journal of Linguistics Translation and Literature

Publication Link

https://abjltl.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

“It won’t hurt to learn something tonight”: Blindness and the Power of Touch in Raymond Carver’s Cathedral

Details

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Article

Created At

28 Dec 2024