“Den attraktiven Millionär und weniger den depressiven Durchschnittstypen mit Holzbein”

Writing and Discussing Disability in German Web Fiction and Forums

Abstract

This paper examines the narrative and linguistic construction of impairment in German web fiction by analyzing four web fiction texts as well as a forum discussion on the depiction of impaired characters in (web) fiction. It focuses on the reasons for including or excluding impaired characters, and on the questions of which impairments are preferred over others and which narrative functions they fulfill. The textual analysis draws on Mitchell and Snyder’s (2000) concept of Narrative Prosthesis – the use of disability for narrative or metaphorical purposes – while the forum analysis explores the linguistic construction of asymmetric categories of human differentiation. The findings suggest that, in web fiction, impairment is indeed employed to initiate the plot or to mirror a character’s inner conflict on a physical level. The forum discussion reflects normative language but also shows a certain awareness of and distancing from it. Most writers who engage with impairment focus – if at all – on characters with psychological disorders or blindness, as these do not, or only minimally, affect a character’s physical attractiveness. Some readers explicitly reject impairment as a theme in fiction, particularly in the romance genre.