Hidden Histories: Deaf Lives Ireland
Citation:
Conama, John Bosco, Hidden Histories: Deaf Lives Ireland, Dublin, Interesource Ltd, 2012Download Item:
Hidden Histories Ireland.pdf (Main catalogue booklet) 5.505Mb
Abstract:
This important project represents the
first structured opportunity to train Deaf
community members as community archivists
in the Republic of Ireland. It has successfully
brought together a mixed group of Irish Deaf
men and women from across the Republic
and introduced them to the world of empirical
data collection, the world of oral histories,
research ethics, digital data collection, with all
its associated challenges relating to editing,
transcribing and storage of signed language
footage.
Beyond the practical skills acquired, the
project has facilitated the development of
awareness of the particularities of the Deaf
lived experience and the importance that this
has for the community at large. Thus, this
archive, while a first step into the development
of Deaf community archives proper, has
captured a set of data that adds to the cultural
capital of the Irish Deaf Community. The data
also now functions as an artefact of what it is
to be a Deaf person in 20th century and early
21st century Ireland.
Twenty-first century Deaf communities are
responding to external forces that genetic
threaten to fragment their cultural and
linguistic fabric. Genetic engineering, medical
interventions and educational policies all
seem to work against a community that has
long suffered oppression and only recently
seen formal (if not legal) recognition of their
language. Further, because of these societal
pressures, the Deaf community demographic
is shifting – fewer deaf children today meet
other deaf children than at any other point in
time since the introduction of deaf education
in Ireland in the early 1800s. This makes
the Hidden Histories archive an even more
valuable cultural asset in the longer term.
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/comamaj
Author: Conama, John
Publisher:
Interesource LtdType of material:
ExhibitionSeries/Report no:
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