Not silent, invisible: Literature's chance encounters with deaf heroes and heroines

View/ Open
Author(s)
McDonald, Donna M.
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2010
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
LITERATURE is both a rich resource and a blunt instrument in conveying the complexities of identity, in particular, the elusive deaf identity. The rarity of the fully realized deaf person in memoir and fiction shapes the way readers regard deaf people and throws up fresh challenges in redesigning stories of deafness free of the taint of triumphalism or complaint. Competing but authentic representations of deafness and deaf people's experiences allow readers to variously witness, immerse themselves in, and navigate their way through those experiences. Consequently, establishing universal truths about deaf lives is a risky ...
View more >LITERATURE is both a rich resource and a blunt instrument in conveying the complexities of identity, in particular, the elusive deaf identity. The rarity of the fully realized deaf person in memoir and fiction shapes the way readers regard deaf people and throws up fresh challenges in redesigning stories of deafness free of the taint of triumphalism or complaint. Competing but authentic representations of deafness and deaf people's experiences allow readers to variously witness, immerse themselves in, and navigate their way through those experiences. Consequently, establishing universal truths about deaf lives is a risky business and an improbable goal.
View less >
View more >LITERATURE is both a rich resource and a blunt instrument in conveying the complexities of identity, in particular, the elusive deaf identity. The rarity of the fully realized deaf person in memoir and fiction shapes the way readers regard deaf people and throws up fresh challenges in redesigning stories of deafness free of the taint of triumphalism or complaint. Competing but authentic representations of deafness and deaf people's experiences allow readers to variously witness, immerse themselves in, and navigate their way through those experiences. Consequently, establishing universal truths about deaf lives is a risky business and an improbable goal.
View less >
Journal Title
American Annals of the Deaf
Volume
154
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2010 Gallaudet University Press. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Studies in Human Society not elsewhere classified
Clinical Sciences
Specialist Studies in Education
Linguistics