Many Ways to Be Deaf: International Variation in Deaf Communities / Edition 1

by Leila Monaghan, Constanze Schmaling, Karen Nakamura, Graham H. Turner

Overview

Twenty-four international scholars contribute articles on linguistic and cultural diversity in deaf communities worldwide, including Japan, Viet Nam, Nigeria, Ireland, Brazil, and the United States. The wide- ranging topics include the evolution of British fingerspelling beginning in the 17th century, a comparison of Swiss German Sign Language with Rhaeto-Romansch, and analysis of seven signed languages described in Thailand and variations attributed to their distance from isolated deaf communities. The volume is edited by a team of experts in deaf studies, anthropology, linguistics, and communications. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781563681356
Publisher:	Gallaudet University Press
Publication date:	05/09/2003
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Leila Monaghan is Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Culture at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
 
Constanze Schmaling is a linguist at the Institute of German Sign Language at Hamburg University, Germany.
 
Karen Nakamura, an anthropologist, teaches at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.
 
Graham H. Turner is Senior Lecturer in the Deaf Studies program at the University of Central Lancashire, Great Britain.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
1	A World's Eye View: Deaf Cultures in Global Perspective	1
2	British Manual Alphabets in the Education of Deaf People Since the 17th Century	25
3	Austria's Hidden Conflict: Hearing Culture Versus Deaf Culture	49
4	Pedagogical Issues in Swedish Deaf Education	67
5	Romance and Reality: Sociolinguistic Similarities and Differences between Swiss German Sign Language and Rhaeto-Romansh	89
6	The Dilemma of the Hard of Hearing within the U.S. Deaf Community	114
7	Sociolinguistic Dynamics in American Deaf Communities: Peer Groups Versus Families	141
8	School Language and Shifts in Irish Deaf Identity	153
9	Surdos Venceremos: The Rise of the Brazilian Deaf Community	173
10	South African Sign Language: Changing Policies and Practice	194
11	U-Turns, Deaf Shock, and the Hard of Hearing: Japanese Deaf Identities at the Borderlands	211
12	The Chiying School of Taiwan: A Foreigner's Perspective	230
13	The Changing World of the Russian Deaf Community	249
14	New Ways to Be Deaf in Nicaragua: Changes in Language, Personhood, and Community	260
15	Sign Languages and Deaf Identities in Thailand and Viet Nam	283
16	A for Apple: The Impact of Western Education and ASL on the Deaf Community in Kano State, Northern Nigeria	302
	Contributors	311
	Index	313

Editorial Reviews

"Interestingly, the chapter on the Brazilian Deaf Community has a paragraph that contains probably one of the best pieces of advice for advocating acceptance of Sign Language and Deaf Culture, which I have yet to find anywhere else. The author, Norine Berenz, summarizes what Ella Lentz, a Deaf American poet, actor, and educator, said: that acceptance can be achieved through artistic means such as National Theater of the Deaf in the United States, rather than official circles, because this would be an opportunity for the general public to learn and realize 'the eloquence and sophistication possible in signed discourse' (p. 175)."

Disability Studies Quarterly - Stephen F. Weiner

"Many Ways to Be Deaf is highly recommended for those with interests in anthropology, sociology, signed languages, deaf culture, language politics and/or comparative education."

Review of Disability Studies - Sally Y. Nhomi