Publications

Publication details [#11792]

Morgan, Ruth Z. 2014. A narrative analysis of Deafhood in South África. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 32 (3) : 1292–1300. 9 pp.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
Routledge
ISBN
16073614

Abstract

Using narrative analysis, this paper explores the narrative construction of Deafhood (Ladd, 2003) in the South African post-apartheid situation. The data encompass five life stories of Deaf South Africans. The theoretical framework embraces the notion that Ladd proposes about Deafhood as belonging and becoming and De Certeau's (1984) notions of space and place. This paper aims to address questions concerning the way the narrators make school as a place into a space of enacting Deafhood in terms of belonging and becoming, as well as the way the narrators enact Deafhood as adults in relation to spaces in terms of their process of belonging, becoming and maintaining ‘Deaf. The analysis demonstrates the way the narrators construct Deafhood in boarding schools for d/Deaf learners and/ or in adulthood. Results suggest that, in spite of the narrators different ages and ethnicities, there is a focus on Deafhood as a belonging and becoming that implies a core cultural self-identification. Using their agency, the narrators create spaces in which they belong and become. In the course of belonging and becoming, they gain a communal sense of Deafhood.