@inproceedings{01J28Q5KWT6P0SQGC48D13SRB4,
  abstract     = {{Literary life writings or memoirs have been gaining popularity, ultimately leading to a ‘memoir boom’ (Couser). A subgenre of the memoir is the “some body memoir” (or disability memoir), in which life with a particular, often atypical body, is described. Although memoirs and novels are formally different genres, they share many narrative techniques. We propose that fictional texts, when read by means of the conceptual apparatus of neurophenomenology, may provide insights into experiences of neurodiversity in ways that rival and supplement thematic memoirs inspired by autobiographical experiences. Especially experimental narrative forms allow the reader to access experiences that may otherwise remain too distant, too unfamiliar. In doing so, fictional texts can also be shown to remedy the well-known shortcomings of the subgenre of the “mom-moir”. This type of memoir focuses on the perspective of the caregiver and tends to reproduce neurotypical norms, as part of the sentimental ‘saviour complex plot’ (Carlson). Whereas some texts explicitly address topics like disability and neurodiversity, we argue that implicit narrative negotiations of neurodiversity (e.g. Nabokov’s The Luzhin Defence or Kafka’s Die Verwandlung), can contribute to our understanding of certain conditions in ways akin to self-empowering neurodiversity memoirs like Hannah Gadsby’s Ten Steps to Nanette. 
But with reading between the lines comes the risk of ‘symptomatic reading’ (Yergeau). While linking narrative texts with the framework of Medical Humanities still tends to elicit objections of anachronism, we wish to take up recent suggestions (Hogan; Zunshine) that it is actually ecologically valid to discuss neurodiversity also in epistemologically independent texts (i.e. texts removed in space and/or time) because they contain processes that say something about the human condition, ‘usually in a heightened or more salient form than we would encounter in everyday life’ (Hogan). This methodological question links up with broader debates on epistemic injustice in representation and the validity of single case studies within psychological research. Reading not only older mom-moirs and newer memoirs, but also literary narratives through a neurodiversity lens adds to our current understanding of those texts, and shifts our perspectives on cognitive differences. As such, narrative representation may ultimately facilitate a first-hand (albeit simulated) experience of neurodiversity’s rich texture and impact.}},
  author       = {{Martens, Gunther and Van der Gucht, Liselotte}},
  booktitle    = {{Narrative 2024, Abstracts}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Newcastle, UK}},
  title        = {{Mind the gap? Neurodiversity in memoirs and literary fiction}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}