Portrayal of Disability (Albinism) in Goro Wa Kamau’s Ghost and the Fortune Hunters

Abstract

The study investigates the relationship between portrayal of disability in literature and the perception or image created towards characters with disability. Although disabled characters exist in texts ubiquitously, their presence is overlooked or they carry negative connotations as explored by literary scholars who examine recurring stereotypes and misrepresentations perpetuated in literary texts. This research focuses on the impact of negative representation and more especially, on ways of creating new interpretations of disabled characters in literature. In this research therefore, we examine the role of the disabled child character in deconstructing disability in Goro Wa Kamau’s novel Ghost and the fortune Hunters. we explore the strategies employed by the disabled character to deconstruct existing stereotypes and misrepresentations in understanding albinism in the text. These strategies lead to constructions of normalcy and dynamism in perceiving disability. The study further examines how disability is re-imagined to create realistic and positive portrayals in literature. Since representation in fictional works informs the way we interpret reality, we applied psychoanalysis theory in order to analyze the behaviors and attitudes of characters. Characters’ psyches and actions affect the way they perceive disability. Deconstruction theory was also applied with the aim of challenging existing interpretations of disability, destabilizing myths and beliefs with regard to disability and constructing new or diverse images of disability in literary texts. Drawing on literary styles: metaphor, point of view and symbolism, the study reveals that positive and realistic representations are achieved by analyzing the text using the above forms of style.