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The Enfreakment of Language: Disability, Eugenics, And THE ENFREAKMENT OF LANGUAGE: DISABILITY, EUGENICS, AND RHETORIC A Dissertation by STEPHANIE KRISTEN WHEELER Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Qwo-Li Driskill Co-Chair of Committee, Valerie Balester Committee Members, Robert Griffin Robert Shandley Head of Department, Nancy Warren May 2014 Major Subject: English Copyright 2014 Stephanie Kristen Wheeler ABSTRACT This project is motivated by the presence of eugenics in our dominant approaches to meaning-making: what does it look like, and why should we care? To begin to answer these questions, this dissertation works from two concepts: enfreakment – the identification of elements that are desirable or wanted – and eugenicist logics, the removal of what is not wanted or deemed necessary for the desired outcome, or alternatively, the replication of the elements that are considered useful. To observe the interaction between the logic of eugenics and enfreakment within ableist systems, this dissertation develops the enfreakment of language, a term that encompasses both the process of enfreakment and the heuristic that allows us to see that process in action. The enfreakment of language uncovers how particular modes of Western and Euro-American meaning-making depend on the logic of eugenics, a dependency that is detrimental to the bodies that become subjected to the power gained through this logic. Focusing on some of the implications of the overlap and interaction between the logics of eugenics and enfreakment within ableist systems, this project demonstrates the operation of eugenics as a logic that motivates discourses around human variation. I offer three examples of representations of disability and eugenics in America to illustrate reproductions of the freak show and eugenicist practices within the production and consumption of the “abnormal” body. I first show how a system based on eugenicist logic operates by examining how eugenicist logic in the language of U.S. Ugly Laws is ii mirrored in Nazi euthanasia practices. Next, I illustrate the collapse of a system based on eradication through an examination of representations of Anne Frank, demonstrating how eugenicist logics of Nazi programs dis/able her as the “face of the Holocaust.” Finally, I look at the attempts to create an alternate, anti-eugenicist system in contemporary public rhetorics through an analysis of Lady Gaga’s references to Nazi eugenics and disability in her work. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that Disability Studies is essential if the academy is to account for the bodies and practices that have been erased in the attempt to define categories of “abnormal.” iii DEDICATION To my mom, my best friend, who took me to the library. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My acknowledgements for this dissertation are split seven ways: To my committee: Qwo-Li Driskill, Valerie Balester, Robert Griffin, and Robert Shandley. To the CC: Marcos, Gabi, Aydé, Joel, & Sofia. To the two friends who have pushed me to be the best scholar, friend, and person I could be: Victor and Casie. To the ones I miss every day: Grandma, Grandpa, and Missy. To my family: Uncle Lonnie, Dad, Brandi, and Alice. To Regina: Love is to share, mine is for you. To Mom: You’ll never know what your unconditional love and support has meant to me. Thank you for sticking up for me, for encouraging me, for believing in me and for letting me know that you never expected more than the best I could do. Thank you for sticking with me until the very end. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. vi CHAPTER I DERRIDA, DISABILITY, AND EUGENICS ............................................ 1 Definitions .............................................................................................................. 3 Rhetoric and Eugenics ............................................................................................ 7 Ableism as a System ............................................................................................ 10 Original Presence ................................................................................................. 13 The Body as the Trace .......................................................................................... 17 Center as Control .................................................................................................. 20 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 21 CHAPTER II THE LANGUAGE OF EUGENICS ......................................................... 28 Francis Galton ...................................................................................................... 29 Eugenics Before Galton ....................................................................................... 34 Colonization and Eugenics ................................................................................... 38 Imaginary Authenticity: Eugenics and Immigration ............................................ 40 The Ugly Laws ..................................................................................................... 46 The Rhetorical Performance of Nazi Eugenics .................................................... 55 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 64 CHAPTER III THE RHETORICAL CONSTRUCTIONS AND RECONSTRUCTIONS OF ANNE FRANK ................................................................... 66 Eugenics in Post-War America ............................................................................ 68 The Uses and Misuses of Anne Frank .................................................................. 73 Anne Frank, the Inspirer ....................................................................................... 77 Sentimental Anne Frank ....................................................................................... 90 Exotic Anne Frank ............................................................................................... 99 Realistic Anne Frank .......................................................................................... 109 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 117 vi CHAPTER IV GAGABILITY: LADY GAGA AND REPRESENTATIONS OF DISABILITY, FREAKDOM, AND EUGENICS .......................................................... 120 Bricolage and Derrida ........................................................................................ 122 Rejection ............................................................................................................. 127 Gagability ........................................................................................................... 133 Alejandro ............................................................................................................ 144 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 162 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION: TOWARDS AN ANTI-EUGENICIST PEDAGOGY AND DISCIPLINE ........................................................................................................ 165 The Field and Discipline of Rhetoric as a System ............................................. 170 Rhetoric and Semiotics ....................................................................................... 174 Ableist Discourses .............................................................................................. 177 Accessible Spaces of the University .................................................................. 181 The Enfreakment of Language in the Classroom ............................................... 185 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 189 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 192 vii CHAPTER I DERRIDA, DISABILITY, AND EUGENICS Joe Johnston’s 2011 Captain America: The First Avenger tells the story of Steve Rogers, a resolute young man whose small build and precarious health prevents him from enlisting for military service in the early days of World War II. Approached by German doctor Abraham Erskine, Rogers is asked to volunteer for a medical experiment developed by esteemed German and American doctors and military personnel called “Project Rebirth.” Rogers agrees, and his “weak” body is suddenly enhanced to the maximum human potential, turning him into the Super Solider known as Captain America. As Captain America, Rogers participates in war propaganda, specifically meant for young men to enlist, representing both America and the ideal American man – a hypermasculine, hyper-able soldier, used to show young American men what they were not and what they wanted to be. When the men in charge of this experiment are killed, Rogers makes
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