This thesis explores representations of Paralympians within media and
advertising. Scholarly research on disability is extremely limited, with current research
focusing on print media, and few studies going as far as to perform a discourse analysis.
Media representations play a prevalent role in constructing “disability” and have the
power to define what it means to be a disabled person. Using a poststructural theoretical
framework, I undertake a critical discourse analysis of television advertisements
produced by Nike and Visa to uncover what narratives regarding disability are circulating
with regularity. I find these advertisements featuring Paralympians serve to reproduce
the myth of the “supercrip”, failing to acknowledge the complexity of individual
experiences of those living with disabilities. Further, the simultaneous celebration and
marginalization of Paralympians, a key dialectic found within these advertisements is
indicative of a larger polemics circulating with regularity regarding people with
disabilities within our increasingly neoliberal society. / v, 117 leaves ; 29 cm
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:ALU.w.uleth.ca/dspace#10133/3294 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Leavitt, Stacey |
| Contributors | Brayton, Sean |
| Publisher | Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Kinesiology, c2012, Arts and Science, Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | en_CA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Relation | Thesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science) |
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