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From:  "Judy A. Kegl"
Date:  Mon May 7, 2001  2:43 am
Subject:  Re: SignWriting and Deaf culture


Dear Denise,

I am amused by the notion that it is politically incorrect to foist
Goldilocks on different countries. Actually, there were those (from the
USA) that complained when we introduced Babar to children in Nicaragua --
too North American, they said. The fact is that Babar was translated into
English many years ago from the original, which, as you may know, was in
French.

Cinderalla, I suppose, is a European fairytale, although there are version
from Vietnam and Egypt (the Egyptian Cinderalla goes back to ancient times
and may have some historical validity.)

We teach the Trojan War and the Odyssey in Nicaragua -- there we go:
foisting classical Greek literature on unsuspecting Deaf children.

I do shy away from Johnny Appleseed or Davy Crockett -- these are U.S. folk
heroes. Sure, we teach Bolivar and Sandino, but we also spend a lot of time
on Lincoln and FDR, as well as Ghandi, Da Vinci, Queen Elizabeth, or, for
that matter, Stalin and Hitler. We talk about Aztecs and Mayans, but we
also study Cambodians, Tibetans and Romans.

Children delight in stories from other lands and other cultures. They are
entitled to a mixed bag. And, a good story is, afterall, a good story
whether it is about a Mexican coyote or an African spider. Oh, we do our
share of stories about Deaf people, too -- inventors, artists, movers and
shakers.

Anyway, I don't know how SW is supposed to address Deaf Culture any more
than the English adaptation of the Roman alphabet writing system addressed
American culture. You got me on that one.

-- James Shepard-Kegl
----------
>From: Denise Larkin
>To: SignWriting List
>Subject: SignWriting and Deaf culture
>Date: Sat, May 5, 2001, 10:48 PM
>

>Greetings all,
>
>I am running into some large obstacles in Arizona. One of the biggest
>complaints that I am hearing is that SW does not address Deaf culture, and
>that Goldilocks is being pushed on different countries. They complain that
>Deaf children cannot see themselves in Goldilocks.
>Unofficially we are going to be conducting an International Deaf Conference
>here in December. I have unoffically been asked to present SignWriting.
>Because we are right next to the Mexican border, many of the people expected
>are of Latino ancestry
>Have any of the teachers in different countries created SW stories that
>reflect their culture, or created Deaf children as characters in stories? In
>order to convince this community I guess I am going to have to create my own
>SW books. I found a few books I could use as ideas, ϴ he Desert is my
>Mother/El Desierto Es Mi Madre m œ¥ oo Many Tamales m and œ€ orrequitea
and
>the Coyote m I don ª² know if I should try and incorporate a Deaf child into
>these stories, or try and create my own story. This is going to be very
>difficult. Did anyone else have these challenges when it came to
>incorporating SW into their own countries?
>Sincerely,
>Denise Larkin
>

  Replies Author Date
4919 Re: SignWriting and Deaf culture Angus B. Grieve-Smith Mon  5/7/2001
4922 Re: SignWriting and Deaf culture Valerie Sutton Mon  5/7/2001
4923 What's happening in Val's office? ;-) Valerie Sutton Mon  5/7/2001

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