270 RüdigerKunow
embodiment,^99 from the functional expectations or obligations
associated with being a useful, namely able-bodied member of society.
For this reason, "disability"—like other forms of non-normative
physicality—isbothacorporealbutalsoasocialandculturalcondition,
a generic concept which determines relations between people and thus
produces material consequences. These relations can be formalized, as
in therapeutic or care contexts, or casual, as in momentary encounters
between strangers in the streets. Non-normative embodiments present
many showcase examples of Sara Ahmed's observation that affects
movebetweenpeople,thatthey"worktoalignsomesubjectswithsome
others and against other others" ("Affective Economies" 117). As the
storyofCainintheHebrewBibleillustrates,theyhavebeentheimpetus
for stigmatizations (as Goffman has shown inStigma), for exclusions,
even the extermination of people with corporeal or cognitive otherness.
Such a framing will make clear that for this narrator, at least the proper
location of disability is not the individual body but the collective, both
asasocialentityandthebodyofthoughtthatunderwritesitsvaluesand
aspirations.
A note on terminology: Disability theory, given the prevalence of
deconstructionism in the academy, has of course been inspired by
prevalent social constructionist views: it is a term with fuzzy borders;
severe illnesses such as asthma or the various forms of rheumatism can
be disabling but are not normally counted under the term disability,
while forms of social and cultural marginalization are routinely
consideredasdisabling."Disabilityisanoverarchingandin someways
artificial category that encompasses congenital and acquired physical
differences, mental illness and retardation, chronic and acute illness,
fatal and progressive diseases, temporary and permanent injuries, and a
wide range of bodily characteristics considered disfiguring, such as
scars, birthmarks, unusual proportions, or obesity" (Garland-Thomson,
Extraordinary Bodies 13). Accordingly, Disability Studies is often
(^99) AsSusanWendellpointsout:"Animportantexampleisfacialscarring,which
is a disability of appearance only, a disability constructed totally by stigma and
cultural meanings. Stigma, stereotypes, and cultural meanings are also the
primarycomponentsofotherdisabilities,suchasmildepilepsyandnothavinga
'normal'oracceptablebodysize"(44).