Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing shows us that illness and frailty, as well as caregiving, are an important part of family life. If we look at the story of Mam's cancer, Pop's old and sick body, Kayla's persistent vomit, and Jojo's caring activity, we will see how the world of existence becomes full of expressions of vulnerability and dependence on each other. We will argue in this paper that this novel does not allow its characters with disabilities to become symbols of something else and to experience race trauma. The author focuses on the material side of illness. Based on Rosemarie Garland-Thomson's feminist disability studies, David Mitchell and Sharon Snyder's narrative prosthesis, and Sami Schalk's body-mind writing theories, we will analyse Sing, Unburied, sing as a work that tells about embodied life, care labour, and hardships that black rural families face in their survival.
Jesmyn Ward, Disability studies, Narrative prosthesis, Body-mind, Care labour, African American literature, Chronic illness
D. Brindha, Dr. S. Henry Krishore. Bodies That Cannot Be Cured: Disability, Care, and Resistance in Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing. Indian Journal of Modern Research and Reviews. 2026; 4(8):44-46
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