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Jagiellonian University in Krakow

“Poor Stevie”

Publication date: 2023

Yearbook of Conrad Studies, 2020, Vol. 15 (2020), pp. 57-73

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843941YC.20.004.19287

Authors

Laura Beth Rice
Independent researcher
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Titles

“Poor Stevie”

Abstract

The article presents an interpretation of ‘The Secret Agent” in which the autistic Stevie is the most important character in the whole novel. The analysis of the statements and behaviours of individual characters allows us to show how confusing their attitude toward Stevie was. The article functionalises knowledge about the ways of defining physically and mentally ill people at the turn of the twentieth and twentieth centuries, and proves that an autistic man was not distinguished from cases of the most severe psychiatric diseases, as evidenced by many scenes in the novel. The article incorporates the perspective of disability studies into Conrad’s studies.

References

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Primary Source

Conrad, Joseph. The Secret Agent. Edited and with Notes by Peter Lancelot Mallios. New York: Modern Library, 2004.

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Information

Information: Yearbook of Conrad Studies, 2020, Vol. 15 (2020), pp. 57-73

Article type: Original article

Authors

Independent researcher

Published at: 2023

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY  licence icon

Percentage share of authors:

Laura Beth Rice (Author) - 100%

Article corrections:

-

Publication languages:

English

View count: 274

Number of downloads: 225

<p>“Poor Stevie”</p>