Diminished Faculties

“In this intimate critical phenomenology, Jonathan Sterne shows us that the agential subject of disability studies is interpretive, nonstandard, somewhat unreliable, and nevertheless political. Diminished Faculties is at once an account of the lived experience of impairment and an inventory of what it can engender. Crip humor, technological hacks, imaginary archives, and material metaphors form the myriad registers of Sterne's authorial voice.” -- Aimi Hamraie, author of * Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability *
“Offering a compelling account of the phenomenology of impairment, this fascinating, brilliant, and witty book will take disability studies in at least three new directions.” -- Michael Bérubé, author of * The Secret Life of Stories: From Don Quixote to Harry Potter, How Understanding Intellectual Disability Transforms the Way We Read *
“With its capacious, unpressured mode of being, theorizing, and storytelling, this profound book teaches us how to think and how to be.” -- Kathleen Stewart, coauthor of * The Hundreds *
"Diminished Faculties is a lyric, genre-bending book, that is forcefully argued, rendered beautifully, and will open the path for further research. It is deeply generous both to reader and future scholar, as Sterne’s work always is. But additionally, this is a book that so many have needed, and need now, a way of situating the present emergency in a much longer, political history." -- Hannah Zeavin * boundary 2 *
"A new book by Sterne is a seismic event, an idea drop so heavy that it takes time to fully process. Sterne is preternaturally skilled at taking apart prosaic, everyday objects . . . connecting them to history and culture and formulating elegant arguments that make you see and hear the world in new ways. His scholarship is rigorous, but he also maintains a fluid, approachable style that isn’t dry, as much academic prose tends to be. . . . His wide-ranging, cross-disciplinary outlook is not only instructive, but also empowering and inspiring." -- Geeta Dayal * 4Columns *
"An intimate and rigorous journey, indispensable for anybody who wants to engage with the issue of disability in media and reflect on its importance for organisations, accessibility and inclusion." -- Domenico Napolitano * punt0org *
"So often disabled people are expected to clarify to others what is wrong with them, a pedagogical task that more sophisticated critical explorations of disability can’t quite accomplish. But through his multi-genre approach, Sterne is able to assert and justify his existence while studying the cultural and technological forces that shape it. This is why it’s gratifying to read disability scholarship written by disabled scholars." -- Sophia Stewart * The Baffler *
"A triumph from beginning to end. . . . The use of humility and humor, specifically sourced from the collective and individual lived experiences of disabled people (i.e. crip humor), is a major strength of the manuscript. Sterne is also skillful at bringing disability scholars into conversation with one another and engaging readers interactively as interlocutors." -- Meryl Alper * New Media & Society *
"A thoughtful analysis of originality and imagination in the midst of so-called diminished faculties. . . . Sterne’s exploration of what constitutes valued labor within the academy is particularly illuminating. Sterne also provides useful resources on impairment theory and extensive notes and references providing an excellent foundation for future research in the subject area." -- Nancy Hansen * H-Disability, H-Net Reviews *
"Diminished Faculties offers a new theoretically and methodologically accessible impairment theory as a political phenomenology of bodies and technologies. The book provides a rigorous study of technology, hearing, and voice with respect to impairment. In addition, Sterne engages with his own lived experiences of diminished faculties in speech, voice, hearing, and the feeling of wellness. . . . The book is not only insightful, but also funny and quite quirky." -- Slava Greenberg * Film Quarterly *
"Sterne’s exploration of experiences of speech and hearing across theory, autoethnography, art practice, and activism makes Diminished Faculties a rigorous yet personal account of impairment as an inherent part of human embodiment." -- Dorothy R. Santos * Public *