"Nothing About Us Without Us:" An Examination of the Dramatic Costs of Skewed, Surrogate, and Failed Representations of Autism in Theatre, 2021
Scope and Content Note
The series contains Master's theses from 1943 to present. The theses consist of either a production book and a media component or solely a production book. The production books were originally submitted as physical bound copies, but were later submitted digitally. The physical production books are stored offsite and the digital production books are stored in the College's preservation repository.
The media components consist of U-matic tapes, VHS tapes, CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays and changed to digital submissions in 2020. There are also a handful of audiocassette tapes and one USB. The media components are stored onsite at the Archives.
Dates
- 2021
Creator
- Lourenco, Jenna (Person)
Conditions Governing Use
The thesis is restricted due to FERPA, permission from the author is required before you can view the thesis.
Extent
103 pages (103 pages)
Language of Materials
From the record group: English
From the record group: Chinese
From the record group: Spanish; Castilian
Overview
"This thesis examines the patterns of autistic representation in theatre from the perspective of non-elected political representation as defined by Laura Montanaro, based on Damien Milton's premise (the double empathy problem) that non-autistic people are frequently unable to understand the emotions and motivations of autistic individuals, and are therefore often incapable of representing autistic characters and stories accurately through the medium of theatre and performative storytelling. It will examine the body of known plays about Autism, featuring autistic characters, and/or written by openly autistic playwrights to determine the successfulness of the more major works within Montanaro's parameters for avoiding skewed, surrogate, and failed representations with self-appointed, non-elected representations. A pattern of bias will be established: the industry is producing works about Autism by neurotypical playwrights far more frequently than those of autistic playwrights, and many of these works are problematic in their representations of Autism." -- Abstract
Physical Location
RG 010.01D Performing Arts
Physical Description
103 pages
Repository Details
Part of the Emerson College Archives and Special Collections Repository
Walker Building, Room 223
120 Boylston Street
Boston Massachusetts 02116 United States
(617) 824-8301
archives@emerson.edu