Traversing Disability Stigma: Re-presenting ‘Disability’ as a form of ‘Identity’ in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre- Dame

Abstract

“Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do one thing well, you are needed by someone” – Martina Navratilova. Though Disability Studies focused on the distinction between ‘impairment’ and ‘disability’ defining Disability as a social construct, we still perceive Disability as something abnormal, drifting from the normality, an impairment to human mind or body. This paper reflects on how Quasimodo, attains an Identity in the society with his disability of hunchback and deafness in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre - Dame. He was crowned as the “Pope of Fools” for being the ugliest person in Paris. Though the identity he gained had a negative connotation, it was his disability that made him known among the people. The deflection from normality – his hunchback made people recognize him. This paper reveals how a disabled person is perceived by the society and the struggles he faces for his survival living among the people who are ready to use him and exploit him for their personal gains and finally leaving him in the crisis with a preoccupied notion that the disabled deserve only such kind of treatment. The character Quasimodo is a living example that a disabled person also possesses the same feelings like love, care, happiness, lust etc. just like a normal human being do and how these feelings are restricted for him. This paper also evaluates the Disability Stigma working on the character Quasimodo making him stereotyped, discriminated, blamed, internalized and made victim of physical, mental and sexual violence.