Visualizing Deafness
A Prehistory of Deaf Culture
Thursday, October 18, 2018 · 4 - 6 PM
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?