This book presents a ‘Traveller’s Guide’ to Deaf Culture, starting from the premise that Deaf cultures have an important contribution to make to other academic disciplines, and human lives in general. Within and outside Deaf communities, there is a need for an account of the new concept of Deaf culture, which enables readers to assess its place alongside work on other minority cultures and multilingual discourses. The book aims to assess the concepts of culture, on their own terms and in their many guises and to apply these to Deaf communities. The author illustrates the pitfalls which have been created for those communities by the medical concept of ‘deafness’ and contrasts this with his new concept of “Deafhood”, a process by which every Deaf child, family and adult implicitly explains their existence in the world to themselves and each other.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements xii
Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations xvii
Introduction 1 (1)
Walking the Tight Trope
1 (1)
Inside the Museums, Deafness Goes on Trial
2 (5)
Unpeeling the Mask of Benevolence
7 (2)
Signposts for the Journey
9 (3)
The Relevance of Deaf Culture for Diverse Audiences
12 (2)
The Other Central Concepts for the Deaf Cultural Project
14 (6)
Demystifying the Author -- An Invitation to Participate
20 (1)
The Importance of `Culture' in Achieving Recognition and Change
21 (5)
Deaf Communities
26 (49)
Introduction
26 (6)
Towards Deafinitions
32 (7)
Deafinitions of Community
39 (5)
Deaf Community Practices
44 (4)
Deaf Artistic Practices
48 (4)
Deaf Communication Media
52 (4)
Deaf Participation in Majority Society
56 (3)
Deaf Minority Groups
59 (5)
Deaf Organisations and Political Activities
64 (5)
Deaf Communities and Governmental Relationships
69 (3)
Summary
72 (3)
Deafness and Deafhood in Western Civilisation -- Towards the Development of a New Conceptual Framework
75 (60)
Introduction
75 (1)
Theories and Terminology
76 (7)
Majority Societies and the `Other'
83 (1)
The Discursive System, Lay People and Deaf / Disabled People
84 (4)
Majority Discourses and Deaf Communities
88 (2)
Deaf People and Graeco-Roman Discourses
90 (2)
Deaf People in Judaic Discourse
92 (2)
Deaf People and Early Christian Discourse
94 (1)
Deaf People and Monastic Discourses
94 (2)
Lay Attitudes to Deaf People up to the Enlightenment
96 (6)
The Enlightenment Onwards
102 (11)
Oralist Discourses and Deaf People
113 (6)
Social Class and 19th Century Discourses on Welfare and Charity
119 (1)
Oralism and the Renewed Religious Discourse
120 (3)
The Micro-Physics of Power and the Oralist Discursive System
123 (1)
Post-Milan Developments in Deaf Discourse
124 (4)
The `Post-Milan' Aftermath -- Defeating Deaf Discourses
128 (4)
Summary
132 (3)
Twentieth Century Discourses
135 (61)
Introduction
135 (1)
Oralism's Influence on 20th Century Discourse Developments
135 (8)
Deaf Discourses in the 20th Century
143 (3)
Changes in `Hearing' Discourses, 1965 to 1980
146 (6)
New Deaf Discourses, 1975 To Date
152 (5)
The Oralist Response, 1980 To Date
157 (4)
Deaf Culture as Contemporary Trope of Resistance
161 (2)
Summary of Key Differences in Contemporary Discourses
163 (6)
Implications of the Counter-Narrative for the Academic Study of Deaf Communities
169 (2)
Difficulties in Validating the Deaf Culture Concept
171 (5)
Identifying the Deaf Subaltern
176 (2)
Colonialism and 20th Century Deaf Divisions
178 (5)
Resurgence and Deaf Community Change
183 (2)
The Deaf Resurgence and Changes in the Model
185 (5)
Summary
190 (6)
Culture -- Definitions and Theories
196 (36)
Introduction
196 (1)
Traditional Theories of Culture
196 (2)
Sociological Traditions
198 (1)
Anthropological Traditions
199 (9)
Cultural Studies
208 (7)
Post-Modernist, Post-Colonialist and Other Recent Theories
215 (5)
Bourdieu and Epistemology
220 (1)
Sub-cultural Theories
221 (4)
Bicultural Theories
225 (2)
Other Multicultural Studies
227 (3)
Summary and Conclusions
230 (2)
Deaf Culture: Discourses and Definitions
232 (35)
Introduction
232 (1)
Terminological Overview
233 (1)
English-Generated Definitions
233 (4)
Sign-Language-Generated Definitions
237 (1)
Academic Perspectives on Deaf Culture
238 (7)
Deaf Culture Contested
245 (4)
Academic Critiques of Deaf Culture
249 (4)
Re-evaluating Problematic Aspects of Deaf Culture
253 (6)
Summarising the Review
259 (3)
Theoretical Grounding for this Study
262 (5)
Researching Deaf Communities -- Subaltern Researcher Methodologies
267 (30)
Introduction
267 (4)
Ethnography
271 (1)
Critical Ethnography
272 (3)
Subaltern-Researcher Status and Implications
275 (2)
Situating Myself within the Study
277 (4)
Subaltern-Elite Researcher Status and the Origins of the Study
281 (1)
First Stage of the Study
282 (4)
Second Stage Strategies
286 (1)
Additional Strategies
287 (1)
Third Stage Strategies
288 (1)
Additional Issues
289 (6)
Summary -- Implications for Research Chapters
295 (2)
The Roots of Deaf Culture: Residential Schools
297 (35)
Introduction
297 (1)
The Significance of Deaf Residential Schools
297 (6)
Life under Oralism
303 (2)
Creating a Positive Deaf Experience
305 (10)
Access to Deaf Traditions and a `Historical Self'
315 (6)
Other Deafness / Deafhood Contestations
321 (1)
Other Positive Effects of Oralism
322 (1)
Negative Effects of Oralism on Deaf Culture
323 (6)
Chapter Summary and Implications
329 (3)
The Roots of Deaf Culture: Deaf Clubs and Deaf Subalterns
332 (37)
Introduction
332 (1)
The Missionary Tradition
332 (3)
`Class' Differences in Deaf Society
335 (4)
Inter-Group Characteristics
339 (3)
`Middle-Class' Attitudes
342 (5)
`Working-Class' Attitudes
347 (13)
Cultural Unity
360 (6)
Chapter Summary and Key Points
366 (3)
Subaltern Rebels and Deafhood -- National Dimensions
369 (32)
Introduction
369 (1)
Deafhood and Learning from Elders
370 (6)
Rebels and Reprisals
376 (4)
Subaltern Rebels and `Deaf Pub Culture'
380 (5)
`Middle-Class' Deaf, Deafness and Deafhood -- National Dimensions
385 (6)
Deafhood and Deaf Political Culture -- Subaltern Rebellions
391 (6)
The Contemporary BDA and Deafhood Issues
397 (2)
Summary and Key Points of Data Chapters
399 (2)
Conclusions and Implications
401 (33)
Introduction
401 (1)
Validation of Deaf Culture Concept
401 (1)
Implications of Validation
402 (4)
Implications for Deaf Cultural Theory
406 (2)
Deafhood and Deaf Cultural Theory
408 (1)
Deafhood, Deaf Culture and the Study of Deaf Communities
409 (1)
Implications for Wider Cultural Theory
410 (2)
The `Structure of Feeling' of Deaf and Minority Cultures
412 (10)
Methodological Conclusions and Implications
422 (8)
Summary -- Additional Directions for Further Research
430 (4)
Afterword
434 (29)
Imagined Futures
434 (2)
Political Reconstruction
436 (2)
Reconstruction and `Hearing Bilingualism'
438 (1)
Educational Reconstruction
439 (5)
Cultural Reconstruction
444 (1)
Community Reconstruction
444 (5)
Media Reconstruction
449 (1)
Academic Reconstruction
449 (4)
The Wider Academic Project
453 (1)
Medical Reconstruction
453 (4)
Current Affairs
457 (5)
Language In Your Bloodstream
462 (1)
Further Reading
463 (14)
Appendices
1 Charity Colony
467 (2)
2 The Blue Ribbon Ceremony
469 (3)
3 Questions Discussed with Informants
472 (3)
4 United Kingdom Council on Deafness
475 (2)
Bibliography 477 (19)
Index