Visualizing Deafness
A Prehistory of Deaf Culture
Location
Library and Gallery, Albin O. Kuhn
Date & Time
October 18, 2018, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Description
Building on research on manual-kinetic communication in medieval and early modern Europe, Professor Jonathan Hsy suggests possibilities for a prehistory of deaf culture prior to the development of fully expressive sign languages. How did premodern people express the value of deafness as a physical condition and cultural practice? In what way can lived experience of deafness in the historical past reshape contemporary (often politicized) understandings of cultural, linguistic, or ethnic identity?