Negotiating the legacy of hearingness
Temas
Detalles
The paradox of Deaf Studies is that it is largely populated, organized, researched, and taught by hearing scholars, but from an historical Deaf perspective, a hearing person is a member of the majority group of oppressors. There is, how-ever, almost no debate about the tricky epistemological and ontological ground navigated by hearing people who work in Deaf Studies. Rachel and Donna are currently working together on a project investigating metaphor within creative sign language with some of the U.K.'s foremost Deaf poets. This work has opened doors into exploring multiple, shift-ing, postidentity expressions of self. With this in mind, they propose a performative interrogation of their hearing identi-ties in order to embrace, come to terms with, and trouble the legacy of Hearingness. Deaf Studies Deaf Studies encompasses the study of the language, culture, and community of Deaf people. Traditional and medical models have usually viewed deafness as an impairment to be cured; deaf people are to be restored or rehabilitated and allowed—or obliged—to live as much like hearing people as possible. Within Deaf Studies, however, Deaf people are seen as members of a minority community with their own linguis-tic and cultural identities.