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his section contains contributions by twenty-eight deaf and eight hearing authors representing deaf communities in twenty different nations. It is primarily a view from the inside-in anthropological terms, an emic perspective -created to inform others, both deaf and hearing, about Deaf life as these authors experienced it in their own countries, in 1989. The papers derive their meaning not only from within, but also from the juxtaposition of each with the others, just as lives lived in communities are made richer and more meaningful through relationship with the whole. Insiders' views are presented alongside etic, or outside, perspectives from anthropologists, sociologists, and other hearing supporters of the Deaf community. The major themes of the section are discernible in the first four papers, while the remaining papers flesh out those themes with details of place, circumstance, and specific culture. Paddy Ladd (England), begins this section by defining Deaf culture as a way of life, a shared perspective, based on knowing the world primarily through vision and suffering oppression at the hands of the hearing majority. Sign language, inextricably linked with Deaf culture, is the most visible and important manifestation of this visual life, and it is still largely unrecognized as a viable language by deaf and hearing people alike. Furthermore, since over 90 percent of all deaf children are born to hearing parents , transmission of the culture from one generation to the next does not occur in the usual way, within the family, but instead primarily through the peer group. Ladd argues that deaf people have the right to be bicultural, but oralism, the prevailing educational philosophy since 1880, has denied them this right by suppressing the recognition of Deaf culture. He calls upon deaf people self-consciously to work to rebuild, enhance and preserve their weakened culture, especially within the schools, which they should develop into deliberate models of Deaf culture. Recognizing the diversity within deaf communities and the differences among Deaf cultures around the world, Ladd calls for a comparative approach to research. He also challenges deaf people worldwide to build on the embryo of the international Deaf culture, demonstrating for the rest of the world the effects of a spirit of cooperation, rather than the prevailing international tone of ethnic and national strife. In the next two papers, M. ]. Bienvenu (United States) and Guy Bouchauveau (France) discuss the ways in which the culture of deaf people is revealed in their humor. Perhaps most striking is the way in which the study of this domain reveals the central role played by vision in the lives of deaf people. Deaf humor, Bouchauveau points out, is based on visual logic, inspired by visual images, and it is often capable of transcending national cultural boundaries when deaf people from different countries come together. It does not translate well into spoken language, however, since its foundation is in shared Deaf experience, and, most critically, expression through sign language. That experience, Bienvenu points out, is shaped by seeing, the inability to hear, sign language, and oppression by hearing people. Edward T. Hall (United States), an anthropologist specializing in the study of non- Editor's Introduction verbal communication, argues that since the nonverbal component of culture is 80 to 90 percent of human communication, deaf people have developed a culture that is more in tune with their organism than are the cultures of hearing people. He describes Deaf culture as a mood-sensitive, high-context culture, one whose members share a deep and rich information base. Along this dimension, it stands in sharp contrast to the dominant American culture, which is an analytical, low-context culture-one that implicitly denies the existence of the Deaf culture and tends to view sign language as a degraded form of the spoken language. Hearing culture, in other words, is essentially blind to Deaf culture, just as all cultures are blind to other cultures, especially the tacit dimension that operates outside of awareness. Hall argues that only an increase in selfawareness will solve the problem. However, he suggests that studying Deaf culture will provide new insights into problems faced by other ethnic and minority groups as they interact with each other globally and promises to contribute to improved ethnic relations worldwide. The next four papers address the topic of Deaf identity. Breda Carty (Australia) calls for research on how deaf people learn what it means to be Deaf, comparing and contrasting the experiences of Deaf children from Deaf families with those of deaf children from hearing families...

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