Deaf Art and Deaf Women Poets: Clippings of an Anthropological Path

Abstract

Currently, given the constant demands of the deaf social movement, much is said about sign language acknowledgement, bilingual education for the deaf, linguistic accessibility in society spaces. But studies of artistic practices in deaf communities are still advancing slowly with research that especially emphasizes theater and literature as cultural elements of this social group. This article is part of an ongoing master’s investigation. The focus of this research is to understand the importance of art for the social movement of the deaf, mainly by disseminating in its production the identity and cultural markers of this social group, especially sign language and visual culture. We will understand this process as artivism, that is, an activism carried out through artistic practices. That way, this article will bring in an introductory way some notes about the visual arts and performing arts of deaf artists. Still during the master’s research, a greater interest in the artistic practices of deaf women emerged, especially analyzing the production of deaf women poets and their role as transforming agents of the social movement of the deaf. In this sense, some of the questions that guided the development of this research were: How do deaf women appropriate the internet space to promote their artistic expressions? Is it possible or desirable for them to separate ‘being a woman’ and ‘being deaf’ in their productions? How are issues such as violence against women portrayed in these poems? How do deaf women poets create possible dialogues between deaf movements and women’s movement? Thus, this research sought not only to outline the social movement of the deaf, showing how artistic expressions are inserted in the demands of this social group, but also to reflect on gender and feminism issues and their relationships with deaf women artists. In addition to the dissertation in progress as a product of this investigation, an ethnographic film was also produced, currently available on YouTube.