“Re-storying” Anne Shirley and the ADHD Child: A Crip Genealogy of <em>Anne of Green Gables</em>

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