The category of blindness in the receptive research experience (based on Eleonor Porter’s novel “Dawn”)

authors: Uliana Zhornokui, Natalya Kovalenko, Lidiia Pokotylo

 Relevance of the research. The article explores the category of blindness from historical, cultural, philosophical, and literary perspectives, using the example of Eleanor Porter’s lesser-known novel “Dawn”, which has not yet been widely studied in Ukrainian literary scholarship. The relevance of this topic lies in the urgent need to reconsider the receptive experience of readers, which has historically been shaped by the dominance of Western ocularcentrism. This dominance has contributed to the dehumanization of blind figures in cultural discourse – an effect further exacerbated by the lack of in-depth analysis in both disability studies and the examination of blindness as a literary category in specific prose texts.

Problem statement. The key research problem addressed in this article is the identification of dominant representational models used to depict blind characters in literature. These models typically reduce blindness to a compensatory mechanism, marginalize the blind subject, and metaphorize the experience of blindness rather than treat it as an embodied and autonomous reality.

Analysis of recent research and publications. The article draws upon previous research that conceptualizes blindness as a cultural phenomenon, particularly within the frameworks of disability studies, narrative anthropology, and queer theory. This review of literature reveals a significant scholarly gap in the study of Dawn and underscores the need for novel critical approaches. Among the scholars who have contributed to the cultural analysis of blindness are J. Kleege, K. Lang, J. Vijayan, D. Mitchell, and S. Snyder – figures whose work is foundational in the field of disability studies. However, it is the writings of K. Jernigan that remain central to the conceptual reception of blindness in the humanities.

Research task. Given the lacunar status of blindness within receptive research paradigms, the primary objective of this study is to develop new interpretative strategies for understanding blindness not merely as a metaphor, but as a distinct mode of otherness. The article proposes to examine this category through anthropological, sociocultural, emotional, and moral lenses.

Main material presentation.  At the core of the study is the conceptual field of blindness as an interdisciplinary category that functions not only as an aesthetic image but also as a socio-cultural, ethical, and philosophical marker of its time. In this context, blindness is interpreted as a unique epistemological modality that challenges the dominant visuality of Western thought. Through narrative, historical-comparative, psychological, and hermeneutic analysis, the study examines prevailing models for representing blindness in literature, focusing specifically on Eleanor Porter’s novel “Dawn”. In analyzing the novel, the author highlights the symbolic function of the protagonist’s vision loss as an existential turning point. This loss is not portrayed merely as a physical impairment, but as the beginning of a transformative process through which the character gains a new mode of perceiving the self, others, and the world. In “Dawn”, blindness is not framed solely as a tragedy; rather, it becomes a medium for self-reflection, inner growth, and the reconfiguration of personal and social vision. Key motifs in the novel include escapism (manifested as retreat into the self, isolation, or withdrawal from the public gaze), the overcoming of social marginalization, and the internal struggle for identity reconstruction. These thematic elements allow us to view the blind character not simply as “the other,” but as a bearer of an alternative form of experience – an individual cast into a space of misunderstanding, who ultimately overcomes alienation through the acceptance of a new identity.

Conclusions. The study emphasizes the necessity of rethinking receptive approaches to blindness in literature. It calls for a revision of traditional representational canons and advocates for scholarly attention to works that have been historically excluded from academic discourse, such as “Dawn”. The article demonstrates the potential of blindness to function as a conceptually rich category, capable of opening new semantic horizons within the humanities.

Keywords: dehumanization, escapism, ocularcentrism, category of blindness, compensatory principle, interdisciplinary studies, motif, representation of the blind, receptive research experience, Eleanor Porter’s novel “Dawn”.

References:

  1. Ivanyshyn, P 2021. Literaturna hermenevtyka: osvoiennia i rozshyrennia semantyky termina (Literary hermeneutics: mastering and expanding the semantics of the term). Available from: <http://dontsov-nic.com.ua/literaturna-hermenevtyka-osvoiennia-i-rozshyrennia-semantyky-termina/>. [29 April 2025].
  2. Kozubenko, L 2019. ‘Yavyshche psykholohizmu v khudozhnii literature (The phenomenon of psychologism in fiction)’. Teoretychna i dydaktychna filolohiia. Seriia “Filolohiia”, vyp. 29, s. 23-30.
  3. Piterska, OV 2020. ‘Motyv slipoty v romani Eleanor Porter “Svitanok” (The motif of blindness in Eleanor Porter's novel “Dawn”)’. Naukovi zapysky Mizhnarodnoho humanitarnoho universytetu: zbirnyk. 33, s. 77-80.
  4. Saramago, Zh 2013. Slipota: roman (Blindness: novel). Per. z portuh. V. Y. Shovkuna. Kharkiv: Folio.
  5. Chepelieva, N 2015., Tekst i chytach: posibnyk (Text and reader: manual). Zhytomyr: Vyd-vo ZhDU im. I. Franka, 124 s.
  6. Barasch, M 2001. Blindness: The history of a mental image in Western thought. London, New York: Routledge, 288 p.
  7. Dandapath, D 2019. Blindness in English Literature. Available from : <https://bpa.org.in/blindness-in-english-literature/> [29 April 2025].
  8. Hall, A 2016. Literature and Disability. New-York: Routledge, 185 p.
  9. Hammer, G 2019. Blindness through the looking glass: the performance of blindness, gender, and the sensory body. Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 220 p.
  10. Jernigan, K 1974. Blindness: Is Literature Against Us?: An Address Delivered at the Banquet of the Annual Convention. Chicago, July 3. Available from : <https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/convent/banque74.htm> [29 May 2025].
  11. Kleege, G 2018. More than meets the eye: what blindness brings to art. London : Oxford University Press, 176 p.
  12. Leng, K 2019. ‘Historicising “Compulsory Able-bodiedness”: The history of sexology meets Queer Disability Studies...’. Gender & History, 31 (2), 319–333. doi:10.1111/1468-0424.12428.
  13. Mitchell, DT & Snyder, SL 1997. The Body and Physical Difference: Discourses of Disability in the Humanities. University of Michigan Press.
  14. Porter, EH 1919. Dawn. Available from: <https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5874> [29 May 2025].
  15. Vijayan, G 2021. ‘Disability Studies: A Path Breaking Approach in Literature’. The Creative launcher, no. 6 (vol. 5), 15-19. Available from: <https://www.redalyc.org/journal/7038/703873514003/703873514003.pdf>. [29 May 2025].