“What will you do with yourself when you grasp that your mind is only different, not deranged?" : Madness and Neurodivergent Heroes in Historical Romance Novels

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14210%2F25%3A00141760" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14210/25:00141760 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://historicalfictionsresearch.org/jhf-6-1-3/" target="_blank" >https://historicalfictionsresearch.org/jhf-6-1-3/</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

“What will you do with yourself when you grasp that your mind is only different, not deranged?" : Madness and Neurodivergent Heroes in Historical Romance Novels

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

While there has been a noticeable increase in contemporary romance novels with neurodiversity representation, historical romance novels with autistic-coded characters should not be overlooked. This paper aims to analyse the representation of neurodiversity in two historical romance novels: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley and The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian, arguing that today, the “madness” of the protagonists would be recognised as neurodivergence, specifically autism. However, the love interests consistently disagree with the perception that the protagonists are mad, arguing instead that their minds are simply different, and they encourage the protagonists to embrace these differences and their unique expressions of emotions. Consequently, the novels offer contemporary readers who are familiar with the contemporary notion of autism a historical context for the ongoing debate on whether autism should be considered a disorder, or a form of neurodivergence. Additionally, there is a contrasting representation of autism as genius, as the protagonists are characterised as both madmen and geniuses. The novels also depict four forms of isolation – voluntary, involuntary, emotional and physical — as a consequence of the protagonists’ neurodivergence, which they believe to have inherited from their abusive fathers.

Název v anglickém jazyce

“What will you do with yourself when you grasp that your mind is only different, not deranged?" : Madness and Neurodivergent Heroes in Historical Romance Novels

Popis výsledku anglicky

While there has been a noticeable increase in contemporary romance novels with neurodiversity representation, historical romance novels with autistic-coded characters should not be overlooked. This paper aims to analyse the representation of neurodiversity in two historical romance novels: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley and The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian, arguing that today, the “madness” of the protagonists would be recognised as neurodivergence, specifically autism. However, the love interests consistently disagree with the perception that the protagonists are mad, arguing instead that their minds are simply different, and they encourage the protagonists to embrace these differences and their unique expressions of emotions. Consequently, the novels offer contemporary readers who are familiar with the contemporary notion of autism a historical context for the ongoing debate on whether autism should be considered a disorder, or a form of neurodivergence. Additionally, there is a contrasting representation of autism as genius, as the protagonists are characterised as both madmen and geniuses. The novels also depict four forms of isolation – voluntary, involuntary, emotional and physical — as a consequence of the protagonists’ neurodivergence, which they believe to have inherited from their abusive fathers.

Druh

J_ost - Ostatní články v recenzovaných periodicích

CEP obor

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OECD FORD obor

60206 - Specific literatures

Projekt

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Návaznosti

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Rok uplatnění

2025

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

The Journal of Historical Fictions

ISSN

2514-2089

e-ISSN

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Svazek periodika

6

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

1

Stát vydavatele periodika

GB - Spojené království Velké Británie a Severního Irska

Počet stran výsledku

22

Strana od-do

45-66

Kód UT WoS článku

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EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

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