Intellectual Passing and the Co-Authorship of Communal Change in Dickens's Barnaby Rudge

In this essay, I argue that Dickens centers intellectual disability in his novel, Barnaby Rudge, to articulate a complex allegory about the remaking of community and the making of narrative. Whereas critics have read the depiction of Barnaby's disability as problematic, I argue that Dickens welcomes the disruption of intellectual "passing" as a meaningful occasion for narrative change. Through close readings of Barnaby's disability, I argue that Dickens's novel depicts complementary journeys of abnormal and normal characters, both of whom are compelled to raze perceptions of normalcy in order to redefine intelligence and rebuild community. Through the coauthorship of a community altered by its integration of disability, Barnaby Rudge represents Dickens's early recognition of disability accommodation as an experience that challenges conventional imaginative processes. In concert with the later David Copperfield, Barnaby Rudge offers an extensive reflection on the transformative role of disability in Dickens's narrative project.