Invisible disability in Middle-earth
Paper given 4 September 2021 at the 3rd day of Oxonmoot 2021
Indirectly this is a Cov19 interpretation of LotR the text, bearing in mind adaptations for other media. The focus is on: disability made invisible by conventions of genre and medium; ‘invisible disability’, specifically mental distress; The Ring, enabler or disabler, with its power of invisibility; finally, models of healing of traumatic stress. Exploring an often-overlooked aspect of diversity offers another take on how Tolkien’s masterpiece resonates, and offers hope, in a time of pandemic.
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