Deaf World: A Historical Reader and Primary Sourcebook

Lois Bragg

NYU Press, 2001 - Health & Fitness - 430 pages

To many who hear, the deaf world is as foreign as a country never visited.

Deaf World thus concerns itself less with the perspectives of the hearing and more with what Deaf people themselves think and do. Editor Lois Bragg asserts that English is for many signing people a second, infrequently used language and that Deaf culture is the socially transmitted pattern of behavior, values, beliefs, and expression of those who use American Sign Language. She has assembled an astonishing array of historical sources, political writings, and personal memoirs, from classic 19th-century manifestos to contemporary policy papers, on everything from eugenics to speech and lipreading, the right to work and marry, and the never-ending controversy over separation vs. social integration. At the heart of many of the selections lies the belief that Deaf Americans have long constituted an internal colony of sorts in the United States.

While not attempting to speak for Deaf people en masse, this ambitious platform anthology places the Deaf on center stage, offering them an opportunity to represent the world--theirs as well as the hearing world--from a Deaf perspective. For Deaf readers, the book will be welcomed as a gift, both a companion to be savored and, as often, an opponent to be engaged and debated. And for the hearing, it serves as an unprecedented guide to a world and a culture so often overlooked.

Comprising a judicious mix of published pieces and original essays solicited specifically for this volume, Deaf World marks a major contribution.

Contents

• Autobiography of Laurent Clerc: 1
• 11: 10
• Coming to California: 27
• What a Deaf Jewish Leader Expects of a Rabbi: 33
• CBS Hurt Deaf Children with Caitlins Story: 40
• 303: 43
• My Life on Paper: 48
• Deaf Parents and Their Adopted: 68
• 81: 82
• Whatever Happened to the Sign for: 97
• Folk Explanation in Language Survival: 104
• Lets Return ASL to Deaf Ownership: 116
• Hispanic American Deaf Culture Which: 124
• Insights: 147
• 163: 164
• The Attitude of the Adult Deaf towards Pure Oralism: 175
• The Fable of the Ass Who Was Taught to Whinny: 184
• Black Deaf Students: 193
• The Real Meaning of Hearing Impaired: 203
• A Case Study in ASLEnglish: 211
• 235: 236
• Finding Men for Jobs: 243
• The Development of Postwar Employment: 251
• A Review of the Little Paper Family for 194445: 257
• Place of the Adult Deaf in Society: 269
• Thoughts on the Effects of Provisions for the Deaf: 275
• Agatha Tiegels: 284
• Play Ball: 296
• Racism within the Deaf Community: 305
• Reflections on The Deaf Way: 316
• Cochlear Implants vs Deaf Culture?: 325
• The Deaf President Now Protest: 333
• Of DeafMutes the Strange and the Modern Deaf Self: 348
• Eradicating the DEAFWORLD: 365
• Establishing Our Niche: 380
• Overdue: 390
• Cochlear Implants and Deaf Identity: 406
• Signing Off: 413
• Permissions: 423

About the author

Lois Bragg is Professor of English at Gallaudet University.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Deaf World: A Historical Reader and Primary Sourcebook
• Editor: Lois Bragg
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: NYU Press, 2001
• ISBN: 0814798527, 9780814798522
• Length: 430 pages
• Subjects: Health & Fitness / Physical Impairments; History / General; Social Science / People with Disabilities