Deaf Culture and the Deaf Community

Deaf Culture: it is a common topic of discussion and debate in the Deaf Community. When Deaf people gather at events or conferences, this topic will somehow creep into conversations and the results may be unpredictable! Frontrunners has been discussing this topic at length but it seems like more questions than answers can be found! Why is that?
I feel that it's hard to define Deaf Culture simply because it involves so much and the members are so diverse. For as long as I can remember, I've always known that there are many different "kinds" of Deaf people- we all have different experiences with sign language, our families, education, etc. We are also scattered all over the world so it's harder to keep the culture steady like other territorial cultures can.
Hilde Haualand, a Deaf(!) anthropologist from Norway, came for one day this week. We seized the chance and asked her many questions about Deaf Culture and the Deaf Community. Her answers confirmed what we had already known, it is impossible to perfectly define a culture. Culture is a process and is constantly changing; cultures are influenced by other cultures, especially the majority culture. This has happened with the Deaf Culture- the hearing community has always been somehow a part of our community. In fact, this is how Deaf Culture was created in the first place! The Deaf people as an oppressed group came together to create a group that emphasizes sameness (deafness and sign language) and to unify against the oppressors. Deaf Culture may also differ in places around the world. In places such as Europe and America, the foundation of the Deaf Culture and Community are the Deaf Club and Deaf School (residential schools built in the 1800s). Some countries do not have these- their culture may be based on something else like clubs and community events. Also, some Deaf Clubs and Schools are closing- will that affect Deaf Culture? Not only that, but with the advances in technology and improved education, the future of the Deaf Community will look very different.

I also found it very interesting that Hilde said people belonging to minority groups are natural anthropologists. I find this absolutely true! We are constantly evaluating cultures and trying to figure out how to behave in different cultures. We are bicultural because we, as Deaf people with our own language and norms, live in a Hearing society. We face many hearing people everyday wherever we go.

Hilde explained about Deaf People being part of a Global Village when we gather at international events. We also create a Global Village at national or local events. Like I said before, we are constantly surrounded by the Hearing community so when we gather, it is like a temporary play world where normal rules are replaced by close and egalitarian communitas. The experience is intense because time is short- we use the time to socialize, share ideas, network and more. It is a time when deafness is normal and everyone is surrounded by people like us. We tend to say that we are "home" when we attend these events and participate in the temporary Global Villages.

It was a great day and I enjoyed learning from Hilde! As for the topic of Deaf Culture- all I can say is... to be continued! :)