In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

COMMENT ON TURNER Ben Bahan Turner's main point I take it is that existing descriptions and explanations of Deaf culture and community are insufficiently elaborated. His approach for dealing with this insufficiency is to scrutinize existing literature on Deaf culture and pick out proposed definitions (e.g. Padden 1980, Kannapell 1989, Kyle 1990), but he offers no alternative description and raises more questions (as appears to be his intent), since he wants to avoid the "bingo card model" of Deaf Culture. His critical approach might well drive us back to the prior analyses offered by Padden and others, because people need to see concrete examples of what or how Deaf culture is rather than be given an assignment to discuss it. Turner is making an important point, however: that definitions, including those mentioned, tend to be viewed as etched in stone. In reality culture might well be viewed as a process (a verb rather than a noun, as Turner suggests, quoting Street 1993), something that is amoebic in form rather than rigid. I agree with Turner that the existing definitions and observations of Deaf culture have not really been thoroughly examined and that loose ends remain. However, I have doubts about his emphasis on defining Deaf culture and Deaf community and seeking the best possible definition. My concerns is that too many definitions have come from academics and not from Deaf people themselves . I propose we take a different perspective from Turner's on Deaf people's social networks. Rather than defining the social relations of Deaf people under the labels Deaf community and Deaf culture, which grew out of the academic perspective, I propose we examine how Deaf people define themselves and their social networks from their (our) own center. My experience growing up with Deaf people and conversations with five Deaf friends who also grew up with Deaf people form the basis of the following comments. The present focus suggests that the terms Deaf Culture and Deaf Community are recent developments. However, Robert Hoffmeister has pointed out that "Deaf Community" was actually used in the American Annals for the Deaf as far back as the turn of the century (personal communication). It also appears to have been used by the academically inclined. @1994, Linstok Press, Inc. ISSN 0302-1475 SLS 84 In the heart of the Deaf social network the sign DEAFAWORLD has been used to describe the relationships among Deaf people. Other signs or sign phrases with similar usage are DEAF CROWD, DEAF THEREABOUTS, and DEAF CLUB, but the focus here will be on DEAFAWORLD.1 I recall, having grown up in the Deaf World, that this term was used to explain many things, ranging from particular behavior of Deaf people as opposed to that of hearing people to the maintenance of societal connections with one another . In the Deaf World, there are Deaf clubs, Deaf organizations (political and athletic), and there is an intertwined network that extends from local to national (and even international) levels . In discussing the use of the term Deaf World with five Deaf colleagues, several points of focus emerged: the meaning of the sign WORLD, membership in the Deaf World, the shared knowledge that is essential in the Deaf World, and the use and abuse of the term Deaf Culture in the Deaf World. The meaning of the sign WORLD in this collocation is not unlike one of the definitions of the glossing word in the American Heritage Dictionary (1993), which defines world as "a sphere of human activity or interest, a class or group of people with common characteristics or pursuits and a particular way of life." There are other collocations of the sign WORLD that may explain further how the term is used. OUTAWORLD refers to where one goes on leaving the school (for the deaf) which has been a haven, and entering a place where you have to depend on yourself to survive-also referred to as "the working world," in which you start facing adult responsibilities ranging from securing a job and settling down in an apartment to purchasing a home or buying a car and paying taxes. In sum, it is the place where you start...

pdf

Share