Thursday, April 3, 2008

A Parallel between Deafhood and Nationhood (revised)

I have always admired her vlogs and gotta show her vlog as to Deafhood once more! My family and friends need to see this vlog. It'd be probably new to them.
Thank you, Barb! :)

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

While the concept of 'deafhood' comes from the British writer Ladd, (A shave might work wonders), it is not British deaf who have taken this up... strange... Their one and only deaf program SEE HEAR in the UK couldn't find any deaf who had any idea what it was all about, ditto audism, perhaps it's an American thing. Deafhood has never taken off here.. British are high on individuality, I think the concept of 'life and deaf' journeys doesn't appeal... we don't all want to go to the same place by any route....

Anonymous said...

Hi

I

Candy said...

anonymous, ahh, british is high on individuality? or is it because british knows something we Americans don't? either way, thanks for providing your insight which I find very interesting!

Anonymous said...

Deafhood is supportive of people's individuality. Here is a quote from Paddy's book (page 4):

"Deafhood [...] affirms the existence of a Deaf sense of being, both within the individual and throughout the collective, which, like a river surging against the dam, cannot rest until it can find a way through that will take it down to a sea of life, where all human souls are enabled both to find their fullest self-expression and to interpenetrate each other."

mervynjames224 said...

Like we said, it is not a concept the Brits have taken on board. I think it is more to the American mentality, (You'll tell me no doubt !),who love their terms, and stuff, which Britain really hates, we like things plain and pretty simple really, it looks a little like evangelism, and the Brits scorn this approach.

Accept each other, yes, we understand that, all else seems peripheral and time wasting, we HATE terminology ! The average Brit is not tolerant of others... I think if Americans log into Brit comment sites of any description, they will find many are not the least afraid of speaking their mind ! We don't have the 'moral outrage' that can come from American areas quite strongly. We don't even trust government or civil rights and human rights campaigns, sometimes with good reason.

MM

David Ennis said...

Your Vlog is so interesting except nationalism I never feel comfortable with it.

AGB, Karl Marx, Adolf Hitler, Henry Ford of the Social Darwinism movement that caused new chaotic breeds of Racism, Genocide of minority groups, Communism, Fascism, Nazism, Tribalism and Nationalism that caused many terrible wars killed about 200 million people since 1900.

In the early 1870's, the political leaders of France felt threatened when many German-speaking kingdoms finally became the first Reich Germany. The French government decided to remove all minority languages as such Breton, Alsace and French Sign Language except French in order to strengthen the nationalism. It caused wars between France and Germany in 1870, 1914 and 1939.

In fact, the nationalism that can completely be destroyed the minority languages. For example, in 1890's, the popular American slogan of " melting pot" is the euphemism of the Social Darwinian nationalism. The target was against the non-English immigrants and ASLers.

Today our nation does not have the official language yet. However, the number of people are increasing for the support of the English as our official language that could lead removing our Bilingual Education Approach I dearly support.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Hi Deb Ann,

Thanks for sharing my vlog to show who have missed my posting in the past. It is a pleasure having you being a part of the Deaf blogosphere! Anyway, you can see more discussion in the forum in my blog about the topic at http://deafprogressivism.blogspot.com/2007/06/parallel-between-nationalism-and.html
.

I would like to respond to David Ennis since I had a similar discussion in my blog so I have decided to copy and paste to save my breath.

Nationalism cannot be so simply defined in a word nor can its effects be so clearly explained. Each has a different meaning, and each walks a fine line of possible positive consequences for unifying our global community and possible destructive consequences that have the potential to rip our global unity apart.

Found a website that explains to the extend:

On one hand, nations should have “the right of self-determination.” It seems only fair and just that each nation should control itself and make resolute decisions for its own people. Canada is a perfect example of a nation which uses this right in a positive manner. Canada has its own laws to govern its people with justice and fairness. Canada believes in equality for all, and it is displayed through government practices and political beliefs. Canada determines the standard by which Canadians live by, and it has created a truly independent nation that takes pride in itself. “The right of self-determination” keeps nations unique, as well.

However, just as some nations take this right and use it to better their people and the world, this right can also be greatly abused.

It is the nation that provides them with their primary form of belonging. This cultural ideal certainly stands true in Canada. Canada is a nation of various races and cultures all merged together. In Vancouver alone, there are Asian, Greek, Jewish, Irish, Catholic, East Indian, and numerous other people living together. Each of these different groups are brought together by our Canadian unity.

Canadians share the same general ideas and beliefs. If one were to ask any person in Canada no matter what race, religious, or culture, he or she would probably say “Canadian.” A nation gives us a name. A place to be accepted and to belong.

Unfortunately, this sense of belonging that a nation provides can be negatively displayed. Some nations become exclusive and resent others who are not a part of their nation. Other nations find
themselves feeling culturally supreme over others and so self-absorbed with their own good, that they forget about the rest of the world beyond their nation.

So my intention is to display the positive comparisons between nationalism and deafhood. Italy is now a unified country but the country had experienced a bumpy road indeed. U.S. developed nationalism especially during crisis (American Revolutionary War, post 9/11, etc.) from time to time as some of the outcomes were both positive and negative.

However after long consideration, you may have noticed I had changed from nationalism to nationhood right after my vlog since the majority views the term, nationalism, negative. It is never intended to use this term if it is to destroy local dialect or in our case, ASL. Although Italy, as one of the countries experiencing nationalism, has adopted an official language for the country, local dialects are still much alive today. This term just simply got tarnished with reputation especially after World War II although there were historical cases that were associated to nationalism that resulted in positive outcomes.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for being here to educate us all along.. I didn't get it from a start and now I understand it very much.. That is a real good intention for us to see between Nationalism and Deafhood that is the similar parellel.

I have always love to watch your Vblog or your blog because it's a very educational in a very positive outlook. This is a real good reason to say it aloud by you. I am grateful to have you being here.

One thing is that I like to ask why does it have to have this kind of term of DeafHood? Why can't we just say this term Deaf as is instead of DeafHood? Hood is part of gang name that become a very negative outlook as you know what I m trying to say.

I was so disappointed that I missed the workshop of DeafHood last couple of weeks ago that I didn't know about it .. I just found out about it recently.. Oh well. I like to listen more than one person to get me thinking about it more and like to have the feedback to discuss it as well.

Thank you so much. :)
SweetMind

Deb Ann and Hannah said...

Thank you for all the comments (great information and thoughts) and I just got back home from my family vacation. I'm so exhaused from a long drive.

I'll be back to you all as soon as possible.

Deb Ann and Hannah said...

Thank you for all the comments (great information and thoughts) and I just got back home from my family vacation. I'm so exhaused from a long drive.

I'll be back to you all as soon as possible.

Deb Ann and Hannah said...

Canadian unity is a perfect example. We need to do that, too.
Thank you, Barb. I felt that it had to be done for new people to see your vlog. I'm so glad you came along. Your link is so important. They can see all the discussion on your blog.

Dear everyone, please go visit her link and find out what's out there for the further discussion.

SweetMind,
You can visit the deafhood.com and see what schedule they have for the conference. If you want to contact with Ella from the website, it has her email address on that link. I really want to go to the conference when it comes to my home state in the future. I will study and learn if I buy his book.