"American Anthropological Association - Weekend Reads. How Anthropology Can Learn from 'Asia as Method'"

Asian Ethnology Podcast 2021. Interview with Steven Fedorowicz: Deaf Communities in Japan. Nanzan University. By Mark Bookman. Transcript: https://asianethnology.org/storage/pagefile/Steven%20Fedorowicz%20Interview%20Transcript.pdf

Representations of Deaf People in Japan: Inspiration, Outrage and Real Life

Abstract: This presentation examines representations of deaf people in Japan as related to so-called "inspiration porn" -- the idealization of disabled people doing everyday tasks (e.g. riding a train, having a job) or for achievements having nothing to do with their particular disability (e.g. deaf athletes). Cross-cultural examples, academic models, observations and perspectives will be discussed to explore how disabled and deaf people are portrayed in various media. Japanese deaf people are often critical of the representations of deaf protagonists and characters in popular television dramas and movies. Such representations create strong but inaccurate images of deafness and sign language that ultimately serve to perpetuate deficit models of disability. On the other hand, representations of disabled/deaf people themselves challenge and add to a social welfare discourse, leading to (re)evaluations of societal norms and attitudes towards disability.

In English, with real-time captioning (CART)

Friday, May 14, 2021, 10:00 AM (Japan time)

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vAeF7_WxQlKdgXnOL2IVfQ

Inquiries (e-mail): nirc-ai-jimu@nanzan-u.ac.jp

Asian Ethnology Podcast 2021. Interview with Steven Fedorowicz: Deaf Communities in Japan. Nanzan University. By Mark Bookman.
Transcript: https://asianethnology.org/storage/pagefile/Steven%20Fedorowicz%20Interview%20Transcript.pdf

New Publication: "Deaf Bodies: Toward a Holistic Ethnography of Deaf People in Japan"

Fedorowicz, S.C., “Deaf Bodies: Toward a Holistic Ethnography of Deaf People in Japan.” Journal of Inquiry and Research, Volume 111. Kansai Gaidai University, (2020): 269-286.

Abstract: This essay is an ethnographic exploration of deaf people in Japan, applying a holistic approach to the body. Deafness is considered as a condition that affects human behavior in terms of adaptation and coping rather than as simply a limiting deficiency/impairment. The bodily interactions of deaf people in their daily lives will be presented as the framework for this paper though Mark Johnson’s philosophy of embodied meaning (2007). The general situation of deaf people in Japan, including academic models, social welfare policies and Deaf/deaf politics, will be organized and presented through the use of Mikhail Bakhtin’s architectonics (1990). The language use of Japanese deaf people, especially their preferred language of Japanese Sign Language (JSL), will be contextualized through the use of Armstrong, Stokoe and Wilcox’s gestural approach to communication (1995). This research is a culmination of extensive long-term participant-observation, language study and data gathering through questionnaires, interviews and photography. How do deaf people in Japan deal with limits – or challenges – of communication with hearing people and among themselves? The paper concludes that for deaf people, the body is a media they use to create text and discourse through the performance of sign language, ultimately displaying a perceived notion of Deaf identity.

Key words: Deaf-deaf, Japanese Sign Language, Signed Japanese, holistic, ethnography

For more information: https://kansaigaidai.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_view_main_item_detail&item_id=7946&item_no=1&page_id=15&block_id=22

Or download it for free as a pdf: https://kansaigaidai.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=7946&file_id=19&file_no=1