English, Department of
Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
First Advisor
Gabrielle Owen
Date of this Version
5-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts
Major: English
Under the supervision of Professor Gabrielle Owen
Lincoln, Nebraska, May 2025
Abstract
This thesis explores the contested nature of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), focusing on its cultural and historical constructions. While ADHD has been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders since 1980, its legitimacy remains a subject of debate across medical, disability studies, and historical scholarship. Using Eli Clare’s critique of diagnosis as a tool rather than a fact, this project examines how ADHD is both pathologized and re-storied within societal and medical discourses. It highlights the tension between medical classifications and lived experiences of those diagnosed with ADHD, particularly in the context of girlhood.
The central aim of this thesis is to trace the evolving representations of ADHD in literature, specifically through the character of Anne Shirley from Lucy M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. By analyzing Anne’s early depictions in the early 20th century, as well as later adaptations and reinterpretations, this thesis investigates how cultural understandings of hyperactivity and inattentiveness have been shaped by evolving developmental, psychiatric, and feminist discourses. Through a comparative reading of Anne and the contemporary novel Focused, which features a protagonist diagnosed with ADHD, the thesis examines how the narratives surrounding ADHD in literature influence the developmental arcs and social perceptions of neurodivergent characters.
Grounded in Critical ADHD Studies, disabled children’s studies, and Crip theory, this thesis challenges the deficit model of neurodivergence, advocating for a revision of how ADHD is understood and represented. It argues for a cultural and historical understanding of ADHD, which acknowledges the role of race, class, and medical authority in shaping these narratives. Ultimately, this thesis seeks not just to represent ADHD, but to re-story it, offering a framework for understanding neurodivergence that moves beyond pathologization to embrace a more nuanced, transformative perspective.
Advisor: Gabrielle Owen
Included in
American Literature Commons, American Popular Culture Commons, Comparative Literature Commons, Cultural History Commons, Disability Studies Commons, Genealogy Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Mental and Social Health Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Psychological Phenomena and Processes Commons, Queer Studies Commons, Rhetoric and Composition Commons, Theory and Criticism Commons, Women's Health Commons, Women's Studies Commons
Comments
Copyright 2025, Darian Aleyna Wilson. Used by permission