ஆர். அபிலாஷின் ‘கால்கள்’ புதினத்தில் மாற்றுத்திறனாளிப் பெண்ணின் வாழ்வியல்: சமூக விலக்கல், அணுகல்தன்மைத் தடைகள் மற்றும் உளவியல் போராட்டங்கள் — ஒரு மாற்றுத்திறனியல் ஆய்வு: The Lived Experience of a Disabled Woman in R. Abhilash's Novel Kaalgal: Social Exclusion, Accessibility Barriers, and Psychological Struggles — a Disability Studies Analysis

Abstract

R. Abhilash's novel Kaalgal (Legs, Uyirmmai, 2012) centers on the lived experiences of Madhu, a young woman affected by polio, literary demonstrating that disability is not merely a deficit residing within the body, but a social experience constructed collectively by the family, society, and structural frameworks. Recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar in 2014 and the Bhasha Parishad Award in 2016, this novel is analyzed in this paper within the theoretical framework of Disability Studies. Using the medical model, social model, human rights model of disability, and feminist disability theory as its conceptual foundations, this study analyzes four dimensions reflected in Madhu's life: (1) overprotection by the family and parental guilt; (2) society’s perspective of pity, sympathy, and exclusion; (3) accessibility barriers in the home, public spaces, transportation, and education; and (4) psychological struggles related to isolation, self-worth, body image, and the desire for self-determination. The central hypothesis of this study is that physical impairment alone does not define a person's life; rather, it is the prevailing societal barriers and marginalization that restrict their opportunities. The paper aims to establish that the novel calls into question the 'disabled vs. non-disabled' binary and serves as a literary testament shifting the paradigm from a pity-based approach to a rights-based framework.

Keywords

• Kaalgal novel
• R. Abhilash
• Disability Studies
• social model
• social exclusion
• accessibility
• overprotection
• feminist disability studies
• autonomy
• right to life.