landscape, he posits the “blind world” as binary to vision, his “angel in
gold armour” (p.116).
Importantly, the representation of the blind has been critiqued by the
visually impaired themselves. Saramgo’s work in recent times has
been protested by the National Federation of the Blind in thirty-seven
states across America when it was released as a film. James Fetter, a
spokesperson and member of the community argues that Saramago’s
book is filled with “false images of blindness and the effect of this disability
on those who have it” (Fetters, 2008). Saramago responded to protests
with the accusation that his novel has been misunderstood (Harrell,
2008), and he therefore problematically silences the visually impaired
from critiquing their own representation. It is arguable that Wells too,
ninety years prior, also takes advantage of these “damaging stereotypes”
which pander to “widespread erroneous assumptions about the blind”
(Fetters, 2008). Physical impairment is surely an outdated or incorrect
metaphor for societal collapse in modern times, yet it remains a “privileged
trope of mutilation” (Schor 1999, p.79). Other critics similarly call for an
alternative narrative to reveal potential inadequacies or metaphorical
“blindnesses” within society. As summarised by Cynthia Davis, “we need
counternarratives that avoid unfairly stigmatizing individuals, behaviours,
places and populations” (Davis 2008, p.101). The dehumanisation of the
visually impaired also creates a false superiority of the sighted which
is not valid and simply not fair. Regardless of its metaphoric meaning,
the association of blindness with disease, hellishness and animal
behaviour does nothing but vilify the presence of the visually impaired
in society and in literature. It is true that Science Fiction often takes us
forwards and alternative realities frequently portray the future in a way
which potentially influences our own. It is therefore important that the
structures of these literary spaces continue to be contended so that we
are not blindsided by inequalities.
References
Bolt, D. (2016) The Metanarrative of Blindness, Michigan: The University of
Michigan Press.
Brune, K. (2010) ‘The Essayistic Touch: Saramago’s Version of Blindness and
Lucidity’, Mester, 39(1) pp.89-110
Cole, K. L. ‘Saramago’s Blindness’, The Explicator, 64(2) pp.119-121.
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