Disablism and Dwarfism in Medievalist Fantasy

My project analyses depictions of dwarfs across landmark fantasy texts, arguing that they impact significantly on the lives of people with dwarfism. The reuse of stereotypical dwarf characters is detrimental to the well-being of many impaired people; framing dwarfs as infantile, violent, and sexually aggressive encourages non-disabled audiences to dehumanise people with restricted growth for their own amusement. Beginning with medieval source texts and moving to twenty-first century authors via a discussion of Tolkien's prodigious influence, I will use close language analysis to identify the social impacts of the messages fantasy authors disseminate to the wider public about restricted growth. I argue that many fantasy texts subconsciously promote ableist attitudes but will also highlight instances where authors have subverted these expectations to spread understanding of the experiences of impaired people.

I will principally study Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (1954-1955)) and Pratchett's Discworld (1983-2015) alongside a range of other texts by authors such as William Morris, C. S. Lewis and Alan Garner to situate them fully within the genre. These seminal fantasy texts serve as useful indicators of the attitudes towards impairment in the genre. To determine if they challenge or encourage ableist stereotypes, I will ask: what implications are raised by the racialised classification of dwarfs as biological and/or cultural others; what does the spiritual and moral codification of height suggest about social attitudes towards impairment; and what messages do the depictions of dwarfs' sex and sexuality send about impairment?