Modes of Dementia Representation and Positioning in Eric Hill’s An Absent Mind (2014) and Wendy Mitchell’s Somebody I Used to Know (2018) | ||||
| مجلة کلية الآداب بالوادي الجديد | ||||
| Volume 11, Issue 21, April 2025, Page 560-592 PDF (1.2 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: بحوث علمية محکمة | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/mkwn.2025.451046 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| د/ فاتن أحمد رمضان | ||||
| أستاذ مساعد بقسم اللغة الإنجليزية كليه الآداب- جامعه الفيوم | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Literature is instrumental in enhancing empathy and understanding mental impairment embodiment. The present research attempts to examine the narrative modes of representation in two selected dementia memoirs. The two chosen works are Eric Hill’s An Absent Mind (2014) and Wendy Mitchell’s Somebody I Used to Know (2018). The research explores the narrative perspectives in the two selected memoirs through the Model of narrative Modes of Representation of dementia proposed by Susanne Katharina Christ in her book: Fictions of Dementia (2022), integrating it with Positioning Theory, Theory of mind (ToM) and Critical Medical Humanities to unearth the wider implications of dementia representation. Positioning Theory contributes in examining how the people with dementia position themselves and how they are positioned by others. ToM is a psychological concept that pertains to the cognitive disparity of the individual's beliefs and intentions from others. As an interdisciplinary approach, Critical Medical Humanities renders an in-depth exploration of dementia crisis and highlight the interconnections between literature and medicine, which in turn can improve the medical care provided to dementia patients. An Absent Mind and Somebody I Used to Know underscore the interconnections between literature and Medical Humanities in a way that inspires people to guarantee humane treatment to dementia patients and alleviating support to care providers whether in the medical field or in the family circle. The two examined memoirs assert that the representational narratives of dementia are prophetically helpful in making human beings envision their future and empower themselves to encounter anticipated dilemmas. Integration of Positioning Theory, ToM, Critical Medical Humanities with the narrative modes of dementia representation triggers human empathy to eradicate stigmatization of dementia and its patients. Furthermore, it is concluded that gender differences and Theory of Mind representation in dementia fiction are topics which demand more investigation. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Keywords: Dementia/Alzheimer; Modes of Representation; Critical Medical Humanities; Positioning Theory; Theory of Mind; An Absent Mind; Somebody I Used to Know | ||||
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