The translated deaf self, ontological (in)security and deaf culture

ABSTRACT

In this article, we posit and explore the concept of ‘the translated deaf self’, tentatively defined as: ‘the socio-cultural impact for deaf sign language users of multiple, regular, lifelong experiences of being encountered by others and inter-subjectively known in a translated form, i.e. through sign language interpreters’. Regarding translation as both linguistic and non-linguistic, we explore the translated deaf self in terms of ontological (in)security in the context of phonocentrism, demonstrating how the recursive dynamics of structure-agency, within and through which the self is constituted, are impacted by the contingency of being interpreted. We show how such impacts on self, identity and agency are not equivalent to the hearing non-signing actors who also participate in relational encounters through sign language interpreters. The extent to which the shared experience of the translated deaf self may or may not be considered constitutive of (deaf) culture is examined with reference to strategies of linguistic resistances and personal empowerment evident in our data but not universally available or necessarily considered desirable from a collective perspective. Finally, we reflect on how to breakdown the exclusive and excluding nature of considerations such as these by breaking free of the written/signed signifier.

KEYWORDS:

• Sign language interpreting
• deaf culture
• ontological security
• phonocentrism
• non-linguistic translation

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Charles Forsdick, theme leader of the AHRC Translating Cultures theme for his support throughout the project, and to thank the following people who have played a particularly important role in ensuring that the project was successful. In no particular order: research assistants Noel O’Connell and Robert Skinner and research intern Zoë McWhinney for their tireless work throughout the project and their contributions and ideas to the shaping of the project; all research participants; Stakeholder Advisory Group members; Community Participatory Group members; and community organization partners Action Deafness (Leicester) and Deaf Connections (Glasgow). Our four deaf artists who have extended our thinking are Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq, Louise Stern, Christopher Sacre and Ruaridh Lever-Hogg and the locations in which they worked were Deaf Plus (London), Manchester Deaf Centre, Royal Association for Deaf People (Romford) and Deaf Action (Edinburgh).

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We use the term translation in the broadest conceptual sense to mean the transposition of meaning from one language into another (Munday 2013). We therefore discuss sign language interpreting as a translation practice.

2. We acknowledge that amongst hearing fluent signers choosing to sign rather than use one’s voice when an interpreter is present is also an identity construction/contextually dependent circumstance worthy further investigation, but it was not the focus of this study.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under the Translating Cultures Theme Research & Innovation Grant (Ref: AH/M003426/1) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council under a Follow-on Funding grant (Ref: AH/R003750/1).

Notes on contributors

Alys Young

Alys Young is Professor of Social Work Education and Research within the School of Health Sciences at the University of Manchester (where she is also the director of the Social Research with Deaf People programme) and visiting professor at The Centre for Deaf Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. She is hearing and has worked as a social scientist in deaf studies for the past 30 years and is also a qualified registered social worker. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Senior Fellow of the NIHR School for Social Care Research.

Jemina Napier

Jemina Napier is Professor and Chair of Intercultural Communication, and Director of the Centre for Translation & Interpreting Studies in Scotland (CTISS) at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. As a native BSL user, she is a hearing, qualified sign language interpreter in British and Australian Sign Languages, and in International Sign. She is a Fellow of the Association of Sign Language Interpreters UK and the Chartered Institute of Linguists UK.

Rosemary Oram

Rosemary Oram is a deaf ESRC PhD student in the Social Research with Deaf People (SORD) group in the Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work at the University of Manchester. She is also a qualified registered social worker and a native BSL user, growing up in a deaf family.