Deaf Culture and Arts
Deaf Culture and Arts – Saturday 25th 2021
“Deaf people regularly come together to share their language and culture. Deaf culture involves the behaviours, traditions, beliefs, values, history, humour, art that exists within Deaf communities. Deaf communities are proud of their linguistic and cultural identity and celebrate that regularly in many different ways.”
Through many years, let us explore to understand our Deaf culture and arts as part of our Deaf identities, including Deafhood.
Deaf culture is the set of social beliefs, behaviours, art, literary traditions, history, values, and shared institutions of communities influenced by deafness and which use sign languages as the primary means of communication.
“Deaf culture is important because it allows individuals to be who they are,” O’Banion explained, “and live in a way that is unique to them. There’s more to a person than whether or not they can hear, so don’t just focus on their ears.” https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/52285-The-importance-of-deaf-culture
Deaf culture has four components: language, behavioural norms, values and traditions.
The core values of Deaf people are:
- Solutions of effective communication.
- Access to information.
- Validation of the Deaf experiences.
- Complete acceptance of being Deaf as an everyday existence.
Transcription for people with low vision or blindness:
THE UNITED NATIONS PROTECTS IT
Although it may seem strange to most people, there is a Deaf culture that is not associated with a disability but with Sign Language and the visual experience of the world. Article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognises the right of Deaf people to their cultural and linguistic identity.
IT IS CONSIDERED AS AN ETHNIC CULTURE
The Deaf culture meets all the criteria established by social scientists: collective name, norms and beliefs, values, knowledge, customs, social structure, language, arts, history, and many more.
THEY USE CAPITAL LETTERS IN ENGLISH
In English, they differentiate between Deaf, with uppercase, for the recognition of Deaf culture, and deaf, with lowercase, for the pathology of deafness. It is possible that it is not used in other languages because it would be incorrect by its grammatical norms.
THE FAME OF THE SILENT APPLAUSE
The applause shaking hands in the air is one of the best-known gestures of Deaf culture. Its origin is uncertain, but it is believed that it could have arisen after a concert of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in 1824. Knowing about Beethoven’s deafness and unable to hear the applause, the audience began to wave their hands in the air.
EVEN THE SENSE OF HUMOUR IS DIFFERENT
It has been proven that there are own jokes in the Deaf culture that are passed on from generation to generation of Deaf people who are only understood if the Sign Language and the cultural specificity of humour are known.
Sources:
- Joes, M. (2002). Deafness as culture: A psychosocial perspective. Disability Studies Quarterly, 22(2).
- Harrington, T. (2007). Visual applause: Where did it come from? In Gallaudet University Library.
- Lane, H. (2005). Ethnicity, ethics, and the deaf world. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 10(3), 291-310.
- United Nations (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Nueva York.https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html
- Rutherford, S.D. (1983). Funny in Deaf. Not in Hearing. The Journal of American Folklore, 96(381), 310-322. https://www.unusualverse.com/2020/06/infographic-deaf-culture.html
In New Zealand, we have Māori Deaf people who have not influenced their own Māori culture and arts over many years until late Patrick Thompson bought back the teaching of Māori culture and Arts, including te Reo Māori. Today, there is a Māori New Zealand Sign Language and group establishing for all Māori Deaf students, Whānau and people to relearn their culture by visiting the marae, Arts centre, Kapa haka, and many others more. One thing Jean and Stephanie wishes to have more Māori interpreters across New Zealand. It is crucial to have more than a senior Māori interpreter – Stephanie, who is trilingual in New Zealand.
Let’s look over to Australia – the urgent need to understand Aboriginal Australians Deaf culture and Arts where many Deaf Aboriginal Australians live isolated in the outbacks and the rural regions. Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands. For example, Deaf Aboriginal Australians have had their sign language for thousands of years. Today many Deaf Aboriginal Australian are struggle to understand their identity, including their own cultural identity. Read the article here.
“Because our cultural identity is from our home, where we feel comfortable, where we feel safe, where we can gesture and sign and connect and understand each other and there’s a sense of belonging. When we go out into the wider community we have to fit into the system.” April Campbell Pengart https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-19/australian-indigenous-sign-languages/100185504
What are three good examples of deaf culture?
Some examples are:
- Eye contact. Eye contact is significant.
- Touch. In Deaf culture, it is acceptable to touch another person to gain their attention, even if you do not know them well.
- Physical proximity.
- Directness. pointing to the right direction, objects, person
- Thumping on tables or floors as to send vibrating to any Deaf people
- flicking the light switch on and off to get attention to Deaf people to look at the person who is speaking/signing to
Deaf Arts
Deaf Art is a term encompassing all artists who are Deaf. https://deaf-art.org
Visual art can enlighten Deaf and hearing observers by presenting experiences reflective of a Deaf person s worldview. Visual Arts can strengthen a Deaf observers sense of identity within the Deaf culture (Miller, 1989:770).
