Deaf Culture - Issues & Forms
The uppercase "Deaf" is used to refer to a particular group of people who share a common native sign language and culture. The members of this group use sign language as a primary means of communication among themselves, and hold a set of beliefs that identifies, through their deafness, as a particular minority culture within society. The Deaf community includes people with any type of hearing loss, and even those with no loss who for various reasons (child with Deaf parents, marriage into the community) is raised with or adopts the community’s culture.
The term "hard of hearing" refers to those who have some hearing, are able to use it for communication purposes, and who feel reasonably comfortable doing so.
Generally, the term "deaf" refers to those who are unable to hear well enough to rely on their hearing and use it as a means of processing information. Even within this category, however, there can be much variation in functional hearing. Colloquially, “deaf” people can be those whose hearing loss is profound, even if that person is able to communicate in such difficult situations as by telephone. In contrast, a “full deaf” or “stone deaf” person is one who is unable to hear any sound at all. It includes any person, born deaf or later deafened through because of illness, trauma, or age, whose deafness does not lead them to identify with the culturally deaf. Although these people share the condition of not hearing, they do not adopt the knowledge, beliefs, and practices that make up the culture of Deaf people.
(This introduction was excerpted and adapted from "Deaf Awareness: Listen Up!"
(http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=651876) by Aseya.)
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[Edit]1 Definition of Culture
Before we know what 'Deaf Culture' is, one must know and understand what 'culture' means.
There are two meanings of culture. One being the culture of people, a group or nation and the other meaning is 'cultural arts'. The cultural arts mean things such as ballet, the opera, the fine arts, and literature. This is not the culture we are talking about here. (Information about Deaf cultural arts can be found on the Arts (http://www.tiny.cc/BVfrG) page.)
The Deaf culture we are talking about is the norms, values and beliefs that emerge from a group of Deaf people living, working and playing together.
We use the capital ‘D’ in ‘Deaf culture’ to refer to it as the culture of the Deaf. The use of the small ‘d’ in ‘deafness’ refers to the physical deafness. A person may be physically deaf but not culturally Deaf. A hearing person, usually the partner or a close relative of a Deaf person can be ‘Deaf’ without being physically deaf. Most deaf people who use sign language and are involved in the Deaf community are culturally Deaf.
Each country has its own (mainstream hearing) culture that is quite distinct. For example, Australian (hearing) culture and Japanese (hearing) culture are quite different to each other. Some of the norms, values and beliefs of the Australian culture include mateship, working to live for the weekend, outdoor recreation, emphasis on youth and beauty etc, whereas the Japanese culture's norms, values and beliefs are focused on place in society, politeness, respect for the elders and high work values.
[Edit]2 What makes up 'Deaf Culture'?
[Edit]2.1 Shared History
When Deaf people gather together, often beginning in schools for the Deaf as young children, they have a shared common history that binds them together.
[Edit]2.2 Common Language
Deaf people communicate to each other mostly through their native sign language (http://www.tiny.cc/Fp0UQ). In Australia, most Deaf people communicate through Australian Sign Language (Auslan) (http://www.tiny.cc/GxH3N).
[Edit]2.3 Common Values
Deafness can lead to the creation of different values in quite subtle ways. Instead of a reliance on auditory cues, deafness necessitates a different way of interpreting and manipulating the environment, such as thought visual and tactile cues. As a result, auditory experiences and environments are less valued, and visual and tactile experiences and environments are more valued.
As you would expect, the cultural arts (http://www.deafhub.com/index.php?id=1091&no_cache=1) that are more valued in the Deaf community are those that creatively communicate using visual and tactile means.
[Edit]2.4 Etiquette
Deaf people also have different ettiquette to address issues that deafness brings that hearing people do not face. For example, there is an expectation that one must say good-bye to everyone at a party rather than just abruptly leaving (culturally referred to as the "Deaf Long Good-bye"). Why? It is common for hearing Australians to simply say good-bye to close friends, then call out a louder general good-bye... for Deaf people, this is ineffective! It is a cultural norm in many Deaf communities that if a person leaves early without saying good bye, it is considered rude.
Other examples of Deaf culture are the frequency of tactile use with each other. Instead of yelling out for attention, Deaf people often tap each other (or wave or flick a light switch) to get each other's attention.
[Edit]2.5 Sense of Identity
Some people (often hearing people) have argued that the Deaf cultural community creates division, as it often refers to 'them and us' when considering the wider (hearing) society. This concept of 'them and us' is especially noticeable when there is an incident of ridicule or harassment of a Deaf person or the Deaf community, and a solidarity is apparent.
However, 'Deaf Culture' can be a positive way of helping shape a Deaf person's healthy sense of identity and self-esteem,which leads to a mentally healthy person who can freely contribute to the wider community as a respected equal member in society.
[Edit]3 Art as an Expression of Culture
The Art and Design Review Group, EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education at the University of London made the following comments about art and culture:
- Cultural identity and art (http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/EPPIWebContent/reel/review_groups/art/art_protocol2.pdf)
- As one of the main communication systems in most cultures, art acts as a medium through which people construct identities and shift existing ones (McFee, 1991). Each member of a cultural group learns to read or understand their culture through the art that addresses its values, patterns of organisation, social structures and belief systems. Particular cultures use particular patterns related to aesthetic traditions symbolically as a basis of self and social identity (Romanucci-Ross, 1995). Tastes in the arts (together with styles of clothing, definitions of physical beauty, etc.) are ways in which cultures identity themselves with aesthetic patterns.
As we can see, art both expresses culture, and at the same time defines culture.
Storytelling, particularly, is a cultural art that both expresses and defines Deaf culture. Read more on storytelling and other cultural arts in the Arts Spoke. (http://www.deafhub.com/index.php?id=1091&no_cache=1)
[Edit]4 References
[Edit]5 Bibliography
- "Deaf Awareness: Listen Up!" (http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=651876), Aseya, http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=651876, last accessed on 29 October, 2007
