Abstract Language Games: Narrating Neurodivergence and Conceptualizing Identity

Abstract nouns - power, privilege, race, gender, and identity - can embody varied positions that polarize the discourse around attempts to theorize them, particularly in contexts where disputes arise over activism and sociocultural change. This book therefore materializes out of one neurodivergent researcher’s endeavor to examine the five selected nouns through topical narratives provided by six culturally and linguistically diverse participants who also identify as neurodivergent or divergent thinkers. Neurodivergent narratives from individuals of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds can inform how we understand intention in abstract English language.

Summer West, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany; City University of New York, College of Staten Island, USA.