The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality vs. Psychopathology

This study aims to examine The Pillowman—a noteworthy play written by the postmodern British playwright Martin McDonagh—in the context of the narrative prosthesis introduced by David Mitchel and Sharon Synder under the umbrella term ‘disability studies’. The study examines the characters in Mcdonagh’s play in terms of their literary characteristics in relation to the concepts of ‘normalcy’ and ‘disability’ within disability studies. In this context, the study revolves around McDonagh’s creation of ‘existential’ aspects of ‘disabled’ characters which has implications for the meaning of the play, the politics of the anomaly, and the narrative and disability relationship. The article explains the concept of narrative prosthesis as well as a number of interpretations on Critical Disability Studies, a current approach which is an intellectual and educational discipline studying the implication, nature, and consequences of disability as a cultural, social and literary construct. For this reason, this article tries to find out the applicability of the narrative prosthesis through the author-play relationship focusing on references from the play and related works. In this respect, this article will also examine McDonagh’s play, which is enriched by ‘disabled’ characters, in the lens of ‘cultural and literary investment’