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Broken Beauty, Broken Cups: Disabled Bodies in Contemporary African Art

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Beauty and the Norm

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Globalization and Embodiment ((PSGE))

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Abstract

Drawing from the groundbreaking work of Tobin Siebers on disability and aesthetics, this chapter analyses the benefits of looking at the disabled body through art. Focusing on two exemplary art works, the depiction of disabled human bodies by the Kenyan painter Hezbon Owiti and the metaphorical disability of the broken porcelain cups by the Moroccan sculptor Yassine Balbzioui, the author discusses the ‘disability gain’ (cf. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson) one may experience through the analysis of artworks related to disability. The chapter shows how by contesting established conceptions of ‘the disabled body,’ anthropology, art and visual culture studies can contribute to our understanding of the complex relation between beauty and the norm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Sarah Böllinger

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  1. Sarah Böllinger
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Correspondence to Sarah Böllinger .

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  1. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Claudia Liebelt

  2. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Sarah Böllinger

  3. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Ulf Vierke

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Böllinger, S. (2019). Broken Beauty, Broken Cups: Disabled Bodies in Contemporary African Art. In: Liebelt, C., Böllinger, S., Vierke, U. (eds) Beauty and the Norm. Palgrave Studies in Globalization and Embodiment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91174-8_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91174-8_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91173-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-91174-8

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