A narrative analysis of Deafhood in South Africa

Abstract

This article uses narrative analysis to explore the narrative construction of Deafhood (Ladd, 2003) in the South African post-apartheid context. The data comprise five life stories of Deaf South Africans. The theoretical framework includes Ladd's notion of Deafhood as belonging and becoming and De Certeau's (1984) notions of space and place. The specific questions addressed in the analysis are: (i) How do the narrators transform school as a place into a space of enacting Deafhood in terms of belonging and becoming? (ii) How do the narrators enact Deafhood as adults in relation to spaces in terms of their process of belonging, becoming and maintaining 'Deaf? The analysis details how the narrators construct Deafhood in boarding schools for d/Deaf learners and/ or in adulthood. The findings suggest that, although the narrators are of different ages and ethnicities, there is a focus on Deafhood as a belonging and becoming that suggests a core cultural self-identification as in other minority cultures that require an essentialised identity for political purposes. All the narrators use their agency in order to create spaces in which to belong and become. Through belonging and becoming, they gain a communal sense of Deafhood.

Language and culture in the Deaf community: a case study in a South African special school

“…Deaf culture can be defined in terms of Deafhood (Ladd, 2003: 3), which is not a 'static' medical condition like 'deafness'. Deafhood represents the struggle that Deaf people have to uphold themselves in a larger community of hearing and Deaf people (Ladd, 2003;Lewis, 2007;Morgan, 2014). Deaf culture, like many other cultures, is characterised by its social complexity, own beliefs, norms, values (Ladd, 2003), activities, shared oppression, diversity (Lane, Hoffmeister & Bahan, 1996), history, customs, and technology, which are carried over to the next generation (Padden & Humphries, 2006;Reagan, 2008).…”

“…SASL as a medium of communication only returned to the classroom in 1988 with the establishment of the Noluthando School for the Deaf in Khayelitsha (Heap, 2003). Deaf learners transformed schools into living spaces where they learned SASL from each other (Morgan, 2014), and formed Deaf identities outside of the classroom on the playground and in residences (Van Herreweghe & Vermeerbergen, 2010).…”

“…Heap (2003:72) mentions that, by 1904, Deaf learners were divided by spoken language (English or Dutch) and by method (Sign or oral). During the 1960s, only Total Communication was allowed in black schools (Morgan, 2014;Reagan, Penn & Ogilvy et al, 2006). However, black Deaf people continued to sign and developed SASL, while their white deaf counterparts received funding for the oral approach.…”

“…It has taken the Deaf community 33 years to win the battle against linguistic oppression in schools (Morgan, 2014;Morgan, Glaser & Magongwa, 2016), which eventually led to the acceptance of SASL by the Department of Education for use as a LOLT and as part of the SASL CAPS curriculum. To be admitted to university, students need at least two languages, which meant that in the past university entrance was not an option for Deaf students.…”

Construction of deaf narrative identity in Creative South African Sign Language (SASL)

“…This term was later extended and popularised by Lane (1992: 43) who used it beyond the level of the individual to refer to a broader ideology: "the hearing way of dominating, restructuring and exercising authority over the Deaf community". Experiences of audism in South African schools for deaf learners abound at the hands of hearing educators and housemothers (Morgan 2008(Morgan , 2014Stander and McIlroy 2017). These experiences are also embedded in creative SASL texts Kaneko 2017, 2018).…”