Cleall, E. (2022) Decolonising deaf history: Harlan Lane, Postcolonialism, and Critical Colonial History. Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History, 19 (2022) (2). pp. 380-387. ISSN 1612-6033
Abstract
I first came across Harlan Lane’s work towards the end of my PhD, which I was undertaking at University College London, UK. My dissertation was on the construction of ‘difference’ in the British Empire, particularly the differences ascribed to race and gender. Using nineteenth-century medical missionaries as a way in, I had started to think about differences evoked by health, disability, and the body. In particular, I noted the way in which missionaries used the language of disability as a discourse of racialisation. The African and Indian colonial subjects they encountered were described throughout missionary literature as ‘deaf to word’, ‘blind to the light’ and ‘too lame’ to walk alone. I have two deaf cousins, one of whom is the sign language sociolinguist Nick Palfreyman, and around about this time Nick had started to familiarise me with some of the issues surrounding Deaf politics. Becoming interested and wanting to know more, I began to learn British Sign Language (BSL) and contemplate the connections between the historical work I was doing and contemporary struggles of Deaf politics and disability politics (I was particularly interested in DPAC – Disabled People Against Cuts – given the contemporary climate of austerity in the UK). As I did so I became acquainted with the work of Harlan Lane. Here, although acutely aware of my own positionality as a white, British, hearing woman, I have taken up the challenge set by the editors of this special issue to re-read his work twelve years on from my initial encounter with it, using the insights into postcolonial study I have gained through my historical work.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 Esme Cleall. Article available under CC BY-SA 4.0 licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode). Image, sound and/or film material contained in the contribution is not covered by this licence; the licence conditions or references to rights holders stated therein apply in each case. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Department of History (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL AH/P003621/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 07 Dec 2022 15:14 |
Last Modified: | 21 Dec 2022 11:27 |
Published Version: | https://zeithistorische-forschungen.de/2-2022/6061 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.14765/zzf.dok-2431 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:194183 |