Deafness and the Riddle of Identity
Scholarly but readable and well articulated piece on the concept of deaf identity and culture, by "Lennard J. Davis, who grew up with deaf parents, is a professor of English, disability and human development, and medical education at the University of Illinois at Chicago."
Well worth a read.
The construct of the deaf as a linguistic, ethnic minority is attractive, but flawed. Yes, it has removed the biological stigma of deafness; for the most part, the deaf are no longer viewed as "handicapped" or "disabled." Deaf people get to be a sociological group, a "community." But there is a negative side: The idea of an ethnic group or minority is tinged with the brutal history of racial politics. There is a sense in which slavery, apartheid, miscegenation laws, and medical experiments have forged the apartness of the racialized minority and in which the oppressor group has created the oppressed. Is that the best model on which deafness should base its existence?Read on…
The Chronicle: 1/12/2007: Deafness and the Riddle of Identityda
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