TY - JOUR
T1 - Who speaks up for Inés Fonseca? Representing violence against vulnerable subjects and the ethics of care in fictional narrative about Alzheimer’s disease
T2 - Ahora tocad música de baile (2004) by Andrés Barba
AU - Medina, Raquel
N1 - The final publication is available via Cambridge Journals Online at
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X16000337
PY - 2017/8/1
Y1 - 2017/8/1
N2 - This paper studies the 2004 Spanish fictional novel by Andrés Barba, Ahora tocad música de baile, one of the first cultural texts dealing entirely with Alzheimer's disease to appear in Spain. It argues that the significance of Barba's fictional novel rests on two important issues: the ethics of representation of violence against vulnerable subjects and the ethics of care. The paper analyses how these two issues allow Barba to create a story in which the verbal and physical abuse to which the person living with Alzheimer's disease is subjected places the reader, on the one hand, as voyeur/witness of the abuse; and, on the other, as interpreter, and ultimately judge, of the fine line that separates euthanasia, assisted suicide and murder. The open ending of the novel defers all ethical and moral judgement to the reader. It examines how the novel offers a monolithic perspective about Alzheimer's disease, in which care is presented as a burden. In fact, this study shows that the novel's multi-layered structure and polyphonic nature places the emphasis on stigmas, stereotypes and negative metaphors around Alzheimer's disease, as found in contemporary social discourses.
AB - This paper studies the 2004 Spanish fictional novel by Andrés Barba, Ahora tocad música de baile, one of the first cultural texts dealing entirely with Alzheimer's disease to appear in Spain. It argues that the significance of Barba's fictional novel rests on two important issues: the ethics of representation of violence against vulnerable subjects and the ethics of care. The paper analyses how these two issues allow Barba to create a story in which the verbal and physical abuse to which the person living with Alzheimer's disease is subjected places the reader, on the one hand, as voyeur/witness of the abuse; and, on the other, as interpreter, and ultimately judge, of the fine line that separates euthanasia, assisted suicide and murder. The open ending of the novel defers all ethical and moral judgement to the reader. It examines how the novel offers a monolithic perspective about Alzheimer's disease, in which care is presented as a burden. In fact, this study shows that the novel's multi-layered structure and polyphonic nature places the emphasis on stigmas, stereotypes and negative metaphors around Alzheimer's disease, as found in contemporary social discourses.
KW - fiction
KW - Alzheimer’s disease
KW - readership
KW - murder
KW - euthanasia
KW - stereotypes
KW - stigma
KW - ethics of care
KW - vulnerable subjects
KW - representation of violence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84973897341&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ageing-and-society/article/who-speaks-up-for-ines-fonseca-representing-violence-against-vulnerable-subjects-and-the-ethics-of-care-in-fictional-narrative-about-alzheimers-disease-ahora-tocad-musica-de-baile-2004-by-andres-barba/6B344158CC15C45BEE841CF2BDD8E474
U2 - 10.1017/S0144686X16000337
DO - 10.1017/S0144686X16000337
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84973897341
SN - 0144-686X
VL - 37
SP - 1394
EP - 1415
JO - Ageing and Society
JF - Ageing and Society
IS - 7
ER -