Anyway, the last week has been spent at library and cafes. Reading, people watching, writing, people watching, more people watching. What can I say, it's what I bring to the table. I took a break from reading about European Deaf history and hung out with Katie and Elizabeth. We enjoyed some creme brulee ice cream, conversation, and a break from the heat.
I found my new favorite reading spot in Paris. I haven't taken a picture of it yet (I am REALLY bad at the picture taking of important places), but here are some images of where I spend parts of my day reading:
Anyway, Ben will be passing through Paris soon. It will be nice to have a friend in the city for a few days. After he leaves, Brianna will be visiting for two weeks. Hooray!
Here are a few random things I've learned in the last few days. Some are related to Deaf history, some are completely random stories about this city where I call home for a few more weeks, some are just fun.
1) CODAs have their own culture - a culture completely separate from their parents' Deaf culture and complete different from their friends' hearing culture. They have a history, some would argue their own language, and a culture that deserves to be understood and respected. These two brothers, the CODA Brothers, are interpreters and comedians who vlog about their experiences as CODAs. Sure, they make light of this story, but it inspired me to learn more about CODA interpreters.
2. Coco Chanel, while she claims she's not ugly enough to be a feminist (hey!), is, in fact, a feminist. Chanel was a pioneer of haute - fashion in the early 20th century. She revolutionized "the little black dress" and simplicity in luxury goods that allowed women of all social classes to own high fashion in both work and play. Her influence on fashion, culture, politics, and feminism were and are still reflected in the label "Chanel." As far as feminist fashion was concerned, she designed women's clothing that freed French women from the debilitating corseted fashion and helped redefine gendered expectations. Chanel designed and promoted looks that allowed women to express themselves (and to be seen) as knowledgeable contributors to the social and working world - and not as objects to be suffocated to disability or death by binding and restrictive fashion. She designed her products (clothing, jewelry, purses/bags, and my favorite - perfume) to be "long-lasting, versatile, affordable, accessible to the widest market possible." Her vision allowed women of all social classes, all professions, and all abilities to experience a little bit of Chanel.
3. The last update of the day is neither fun nor random. The Deaf experience in Hitler's Europe is a scary chapter in it's history and a history about which little is known. To say that the Holocaust is an important part of European Deaf history is an understatement, but I'm still looking for the appropriate word. A little bit is known about the Deaf experience in Hitler's Europe, but only in the context of the fate of disabled bodies. Most were euthanized by lethal injection or suffocated in the gas chambers. Very few were sent to labor camps, and these individuals faked a hearing status. They refused to sign and followed the leader. They survived. Those who were not sent to labor camps or to die immediately were victims of "scientific" research, forced abortion and sterilization. Children were almost always killed immediately. Research tells us how many Deaf people were killed and how many survived is almost completely unknown. There are guesstimations, and there are survivor stories (see Gallaudet's page about Holocaust research). Documentation wasn't exactly precise and, if documented, many were diagnosed as cognitively disabled. What we don't know are the experiences of surviving Deaf Jews living in Europe. Sign language is not universal and is nationally bound. Researchers have interviewed survivors living in the US who use ASL, and their stories provide a rich history of only one kind of survivor - those who were able to escape.
The focus of many Deaf Holocaust historians is on the experience of those who stayed in Europe. They argue that Deaf survivors are largely a forgotten population of victims. Efforts to share these oral histories involve many actors and we (I say we, I really mean academics) risk losing rich information. For example, a team of American historians used their connections to Gallaudet University to get in contact with members of a Hungarian Deaf Club. Many of the older members were Holocaust survivors and were willing to share their histories with the American team. The problem? Language. The researchers knew ASL (one was a CODA), but couldn't speak Hungarian, nor did they know Hungarian Sign Language. At the time of the research (1997), Hungary didn't have an official interpreting registry. These American researchers relied on a hearing woman who learned Hungarian Sign Language as a child when her family hid a Deaf family in the 1940s. This woman interpreted for the survivors and another man interpreted spoken Hungarian/English for the research team. I can only imagine what can be gained and lost in these interviews.
The humor of this following clip is not intended to make light of the nature of this research, but when I first read this article, this was how I imagined it took place:
What does this call for? Researchers of Deaf history should also commit to learning the country's sign language. This is no easy task, of course. Deaf activists and historians also remind us that we need to support the training of qualified interpreters in every country, again, no easy task. At this point in my education, it's a topic worth investigating. Oral history research of the Deaf serves to illuminate the rich culture and history of the Deaf experience worldwide. It also highlights the methodological problems in accessing these histories due to linguistic and cultural barriers. THIS CANNOT STOP US. All I can say right now is that I have a lot to learn. I have a lot of reading ahead of me and I will surely report back what I find out.
In the mean time, here is a link to an interview with a Deaf Jewish Holocaust survivor:
http://deaftvchannel.com/blog/deaf-history/a-deaf-jewish-family-escapes-the-holocaust
a bientôt!
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