Two rare but ‘modern’ items

Two ‘modern’ but still ‘historical’ items for you today.

The first which was re-discovered by one of our visitors, is a satirical pamphlet dated 1993 by our former librarian. Called The Dirty Earmould, (click onto the picture for a larger size) this is the product of an anonymous Deaf activist or activists from the time when Deaf radicalism was becoming militant in its opposition to being treated as ‘colonies’, in the terminology of Paddy Ladd (Understanding Deaf Culture, 2004, p. 72). It is not subtle but goes for the jugular; How can I tell if my mother is an oralist, “Fact: Grey haired fuddy-duddies and tarts can fall prey to oralism”; Letters – “Dear Sir, Today I looked out of my window and to my horror, I saw two deaf children. They were waving their hands about in a most violent manner reminiscent of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Can nothing be done to stop this exhibitionist streak in modern children?”;  “How many oralists does it take to change a lightbulb? Nine, one of them to hold the bulb in the mouth, the other eight to turn the oralist round.” etc.

The second item is a lecture given by the sign language researcher Mary Brennan at the Leeds Incorporated Institution for the Blind and Deaf at their A.G.M. in November 1978. Brennan, who died on 23rd of June 2005, called her talk The Rising Status of Non-verbal Communication.

Brennan points out that in Shakespeare’s age,

a great debate was going on as to the worthiness and adequacy of the English Language. Before that time most of the important works, in for example, Religion and Philosophy, had been written in Latin or Greek as it was assumed that it was impossible to express abstract ideas and complex thought in English. Seen from the perspective of the twentieth century, this seems absolutely ludicrous.

[she explores this theme further and then continues]

William Labov, an American linguist, who has studied the language of black American speakers, has said that the prejudice against certain dialects is caused by ignorance of the basic facts about human language and the people who speak it. It seems to me that this is exactly the case in relation to the status of the non-verbal communication system used by the deaf community. While many experts on deaf education or deaf welfare remain uninformed about the nature of sign language, the prejudice against sign language will continue. But, in changing people’s attitudes to the language of the deaf, we are changing people’s attitudes to deaf people themselves.In achieving a proper status for the communication of deaf people we are achieving a recognition of the rights and dignity of deaf people themselves.

This copy is probably rare and may be unique. This sort of ‘grey literature’ illustrated by these two items, is found in abundance in the R.N.I.D. library. It does not perhaps carry the weight of peer-reviewed studies, but it can in fact give colour to and illuminate a topic and a period in a way that other sources cannot. Here’s to ephemera!

Brennan, Mary. The Rising Status of Non-verbal Communication. Unpublished (?) photocopy

Brien, David ed. Dictionary of British sign language; with an introduction by Mary Brennan ; compiled for the British Deaf Association by the Deaf Studies Research Unit, University of Durham

Brennan, Mary, Colville, Martin D., Lawson, Lilian K. Words in hand : a structural analysis of the signs of British sign language /  –  [2nd ed.] / [revised by Gerry Hughes]