Yardsticks
Subtitle: retarded characters and their roles in fiction
By: Patricia M. Puccinelli.
Series: American university studies.; v. 155
Publisher: P. Lang; Lang AG International Academic Publishers, Peter
Published: 1995
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 104
Subjects: American fiction -- History and criticism.; English literature -- History and criticism.; People with mental disabilities in literature.; People with disabilities in motion pictures.; Literature and mental illness -- English-speaking countries.
Description: A retarded character is often used in fiction as a conventional device. This study traces its history from the court fools of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries up through the characters in twentieth-century works. Puccinelli identifies the retarded character's role in narrative in terms of the following five categories: the yardstick (the most prevalent of the five), the wise fool, the catalyst, the window pane, and the accessory.

Though this discussion is limited to American fiction, the analysis perseveres in other national literatures and in other media, including film and television.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [99]-104)