Çocuk edebiyatında engelli karakter stereotipini yıkmak

Year 2025, Volume: 15 Issue: 1, 11 - 23

Meryem Odabaşı

https://doi.org/10.30783/nevsosbilen.1566576

Abstract

Engellilik çalışmalarının artan popülaritesiyle birlikte, engelliliğin bireylerin yetersizliklerinden değil toplumsal engellerden kaynaklandığını iddia eden sosyal model ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu düşünceden hareketle, engellilik çocuk edebiyatı alanında daha görünür hale gelmiş ve engelli karakterlerin kurban, kötü, süper güçlere sahip ya da ikincil karakterler olarak tasvir edildikleri stereotipleri yıkılmaya başlamıştır. Toplumsal yanlış algılara katkıda bulunan ve ableizmi (engelli ayrımcılığını) pekiştiren bu stereotipler yirminci yüzyılın sonlarında ortadan kalkmaya başlamıştır. Bu çalışma, geçmişte engelli karakterlerin olumsuz temsillerini değerlendirmeyi ve ardından stereotiplere yönelik değişen tutumlara odaklanarak Amazing ve My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay adlı iki resimli kitapta engelli karakterlerin temsilini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Her iki kitabın da baş kahramanı süper güçleri olmayan ancak arkadaşlarıyla vakit geçirmekten hoşlanan sıradan engelli çocuk karakterlerdir. Her iki kitap da engellilik açısından çeşitliliği kucaklamakta ve karakterleri zayıf ve güçlü yönleriyle gerçekçi ortamlarda tasvir ederek olumsuz stereotipleştirmeyi ortadan kaldırmaktadır.

Keywords

Engellilik çalışmaları, Engelli karakterler, Stereotipler, Çocuk edebiyatı

Breaking stereotypes of disabled characters in children’s literature

Abstract

With the increasing popularity of disability studies, social model has emerged, which claims that disability is caused by societal barriers not by impairments of the individuals. Based on this idea, disability has become more visible in the field of children’s literature, and the portrayal of disabled characters has shifted from being victim, evil, supercrip or secondary characters. These stereotypes contributing to societal misperceptions and reinforcing ableism has been broken in the late twentieth century. This article delves into the negative representations of disabled characters in the past and then examines the representation of disabled characters in two picturebooks Amazing and My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay by focusing on the changing attitudes towards stereotypes. The disabled characters are protagonists with no superpower but ordinary children who enjoy spending time with their friends. Both of the books celebrate diversity in terms of disability and break the negative stereotyping of the characters by depicting them with their weaknesses and strengths in authentic settings.

Keywords

Disability studies, Disabled charaters, Stereotypes, Children’s literature

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