'Deaf people are one, as they say': articulating 'Deaf Space' and deaf-hearing communication in a Ugandan market

Modern, Julia

Abstract

This article investigates visual communication practices among members of a disabled people's organisation (DPO) in a market in Uganda. Deaf members and many of the hearing members are proficient in Ugandan Sign Language (UgSL) and use it daily. I examine three communicative settings within the market, identifying varied modes of visual communication in use, ranging from loosely conventionalised multimodal improvisation to standard UgSL. Deaf stallholders value the varied forms of linguistic community accessed through these different modes, which are complementary rather than opposing, except at key moments of tension. By combining ‘deaf space’ theory with Silverstein's distinction between speech and language communities, I link the visual communication practices of deaf and hearing marketgoers to the varying forms of solidarity that underly linguistic communities. Deaf marketgoers creatively articulate different visual communication potentialities and the communities they arise from and index, including negotiating linguistic access through strategically opposing deaf and hearing communities.

Citation

Modern, J. (online). 'Deaf people are one, as they say': articulating 'Deaf Space' and deaf-hearing communication in a Ugandan market. Language in Society, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404524000447

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 30, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Sep 20, 2024
• Deposit Date: Apr 6, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 6, 2024
• Journal: Language in Society
• Print ISSN: 0047-4045
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-8013
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404524000447
• Keywords: Deaf Space, Sign Language, Language communities
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-in-society/article/deaf-people-are-one-as-they-say-articulating-deaf-space-and-deafhearing-communication-in-a-ugandan-market/DE6A2E9ED8AC402FF113795559420B1A