Deaf Culture

The term ‘Deaf Culture’ appeared in the literature recently after the late 1970s, even

though some of Deaf culture components were categorized under subculture, or Deaf community

life. Also, Deaf world, Deaf community, and Deaf way were similar to Deaf culture concept

which could be found in Deaf periodicals and literature (Ladd, 2003). In 1971, Schlesinger and

Meadow discussed that being deaf was much more than a medical diagnosis; it was a cultural

phenomenon, and the authors used the term Deaf subculture in Deaf community to presented

deaf individuals. Lack the understand of Deaf culture resulted in neglecting sign language as

well as deaf history (Ladd & Lane, 2013). Padden and Markowitz were defining community as a

group of individuals who shared a common culture and applied that to Deaf communities (Ladd,

2003). Moreover, deaf community referred deaf ethnolinguistic group, deaf ethnic group, and

deaf culture as a minority culture group (Erting, 1978; Gannon, 2011; Becker ,1983). Padden and

Humphries (2003) defined Deaf culture using practices and beliefs, especially the key duty of

sign language in the daily lives of the deaf individuals. The characteristics of culture make a

distinction between Deaf culture and hearing culture. Padden and Humphries (2005) borrowed

from James Woodward’s model of adopting the capitalized word Deaf to define the cultural

norms of a group within a Deaf community and the lower-case is used to denote the condition, or

the broader cluster of individuals without making proper references to the Deaf culture (Hoffman

& Andrews, 2016).

Padden (2008) emphasized the manners of visual communication that points to a long

history of interactions in cultural manners. Aspects such as the sign language, theater, poetry,

jobs, and deaf schools were identified as the nature of “Deaf culture” by Padden (Edwards,

2012). Deaf individuals, according to Padden, have been isolated for a long time that their

history sets them apart from other population groups, and it made hearing individuals feel
strange to interact or join the company of other groups of people who are different from them

(Harvey, 2005). It suggests that deaf individuals have developed not only a new terminology, but

also a new form of understanding or consciousness about their behaviors and personality

(Reagan, 1995).

Tom Humphries, according to Padden, refers to this transformation as a transition to

“talking culture” from “culture talking,” similar to the observations of Jim Clifford in his

classification of modern cultures (Rosen, 2007). Understanding the theme of Deaf culture can

emerge from comparing the perceptions of Padden with Holcomb. Holcomb (2013) argues that

the core values of Deaf culture consists of the importance of having full access to

communication, information sharing, health identity formation, and self-determination while

Padden stresses the tradition definition of Deaf culture which emphasizes the value of residential

school experiences, Deaf club, and ASL. Also, Holcomb adds the rich social lives founded on a

treasured sign language that define a network of educations, athletic, artistic, and social

opportunities of the deaf people. Padden (2005), on the other hand, asserts that there are few

places that Deaf individuals can consider their own. She argues that for most of their long history

in America, Deaf individuals have occupied places created by other population groups and

largely controlled by individuals who have limited experiences with being Deaf (Scheetz, 2004).

She states that the Deaf institutions had places organized and designed exclusively for Deaf

children by their benefactors and teachers. Although Holcomb suggests that a greater share of

Deaf Culture take pride in being Deaf may be the reason Deaf Culture today is different than

Deaf culture of yesterday, but it is still a vibrant and relevant entity (Horejes, 2012; Leigh,

Andrews, & Harris, 2018).

 References

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of California Press.

Edwards, R. A. (2012). Words made flesh: Nineteenth-century deaf education and the growth of

deaf culture. New York, NY: NYU Press.

Erting, C. J. (1978). Cultural conflict in a school for deaf children. Anthropology & Education

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Gannon, J. (2011). Deaf heritage: A narrative history of deaf America. Washington, DC:

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