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