Wood, MaryElliott, Meghan2024-08-072024-08-072024-08-07https://hdl.handle.net/1794/29744In this dissertation, I analyze how literature engages prosthetic embodiment and relationsthrough critical memoirs and speculative fictions that explore real and imagined experiences with prosthetics. Using affect theory and dis/ability studies frameworks, I examine the emotional and contextual aspects associated with narratives of prosthetic embodiment and their relationship to genre. By studying memoirs by Audre Lorde, Olga Trujillo, and Eli Clare, along with speculative fiction by Nisi Shawl, Erna Brodber, Ocean Vuong, and Silas Weir Mitchell, I explore a wide range of personal and fantastical approaches to prosthetic modification. In treating prosthetics in literature as both symbols and objects that enable physical, mental, social, and emotional relations, this project aims to extend the definition of prosthesis and expand how we understand the shape and extent of our dependent embodiment. Understanding the social and cultural narratives attributed to prosthetics can provide insights into how individuals experience and navigate their embodied existence, challenge stigmatizing beliefs about the body, and foster a more inclusive medical approach to prosthetic embodiment and dependence.en-USAll Rights Reserved.Electronic Thesis or Dissertation