Deaf Geography, an introduction
Temas
Detalles
They describe how society and social knowledge are built up as embodied humans encounter their environment and each other, produce interactive spaces through which they socialise and create/share knowledge, and then begin to shape those spaces into their environment. Deaf Geographies treat all spaces as equal, and so represents a powerful critical tool that Deaf Studies can use to validate Deaf realities, and explore the underlying power dynamics that shape environmental, social, cultural and physical norms. For over 200 years, commentators have been writing about Deaf people's unique relationship with space and each other by using geographical parallels. These have ranged from wondering what a Deaf country might look like, through describing Deaf people as a nation in their own right, or as foreigners in the hearing world, to the idea that Deaf people might find a homeland in the semi-permanent spaces of Deaf schools and long-term Deaf families. For a long time, these were simply metaphors for a Deaf reality. Recently, however, these geographical parallels have been taken up by a group of academics working between Deaf Studies and the academic discipline of Human Geography. The result has been the emergence of a new sub-discipline; Deaf Geographies. Deaf Geographies not only represent a powerful critical tool that Deaf Studies can use to explore and explain Deaf realities, but also provide a bridge across which Deaf Studies and researchers with the Deaf community might travel to establish the unique value of Deaf Studies within more mainstream academic fields.