Viva la Differenza!

IF 0.5 Q3 LINGUISTICS
Elena Radutzky
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Grandma would immediately whisper to Grandpa \"Onuki tut\" (\"The grandkids are here\"), and they would immediately switch to their broken English. Young as I was, I was furious!</p> <p>Lucky for me, my Uncle Pete married Maria, a beautiful Cuban woman who spoke a language my family could not understand—Spanish! That was it! I was determined to master it. (I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that my prime motivation was revenge.) I even <strong>[End Page 421]</strong></p> <br/> Click for larger view<br/> View full resolution Figure 1. <p>The American television comic Sid Caesar. Photo courtesy of the author.</p> <p></p> <p>changed my name from Ellen to Elena. I studied Spanish through junior and senior high and majored in it for my BA, then lived and studied for a year and a half in Spain to become fluent.</p> <p>Obviously, my language deprivation was nothing like what most Deaf children go through. Yes, I was deprived of being bilingual as a child, but I acquired my native English from my parents, which enabled full cognitive and linguistic development at the appropriate developmental moment in time. Furthermore, I was fully accepted by my parents as being similar to them. This is not the case with 95 percent of deaf children, who are born to hearing parents. But what drew me to the Deaf world and sign language? My father happened to be the best friend of the famous American television comic and mime, Sid Caesar (figure 1).</p> <p>From the age of ten, I spent many weekends at Sid's home. He had a Deaf gardener named Eddie, my first Deaf experience. Eddie did not use full American Sign Language (ASL) with Sid, but they got on <strong>[End Page 422]</strong> fine because Sid was an expert mime, had remarkable gesturing, and had learned fingerspelling and a dose of ASL from Eddie. Since I had acted in camp and school plays, I was intrigued by this visual-gestural communication. 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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • Viva la Differenza!
  • Elena Radutzky (bio)

Those who know me well, know that I have two serious chronic diseases. The first is rheumatoid arthritis, which has had some serious consequences, not the least of which for my signing skills. I can no longer make a fist, nor can I raise individual fingers. As a result, my deaf colleagues teasingly tell me that when I sign now, I "slur" like a drunk. My second chronic disease is a mental obsession: I am constantly driven to guarantee access to communication to those who are denied it, and this affliction dates back to long before I entered the Deaf world.

I was born in Brooklyn in 1944 into a family of Eastern European immigrants from four countries. They arrived in New York Harbor, welcomed by the Statue of (so-called) Liberty! What a linguistic opportunity: I could have become multilingual and multicultural, effortlessly; each grandparent had only to speak to me exclusively in their language.

Not a chance! They were all browbeaten into believing that to succeed, they must shed their language, culture, and accent and (heaven forbid) must never talk to the grandchildren in anything but English. My sister and I would enter the room while our grandparents were conversing in Ukrainian. Grandma would immediately whisper to Grandpa "Onuki tut" ("The grandkids are here"), and they would immediately switch to their broken English. Young as I was, I was furious!

Lucky for me, my Uncle Pete married Maria, a beautiful Cuban woman who spoke a language my family could not understand—Spanish! That was it! I was determined to master it. (I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that my prime motivation was revenge.) I even [End Page 421]


Click for larger view
View full resolution Figure 1.

The American television comic Sid Caesar. Photo courtesy of the author.

changed my name from Ellen to Elena. I studied Spanish through junior and senior high and majored in it for my BA, then lived and studied for a year and a half in Spain to become fluent.

Obviously, my language deprivation was nothing like what most Deaf children go through. Yes, I was deprived of being bilingual as a child, but I acquired my native English from my parents, which enabled full cognitive and linguistic development at the appropriate developmental moment in time. Furthermore, I was fully accepted by my parents as being similar to them. This is not the case with 95 percent of deaf children, who are born to hearing parents. But what drew me to the Deaf world and sign language? My father happened to be the best friend of the famous American television comic and mime, Sid Caesar (figure 1).

From the age of ten, I spent many weekends at Sid's home. He had a Deaf gardener named Eddie, my first Deaf experience. Eddie did not use full American Sign Language (ASL) with Sid, but they got on [End Page 422] fine because Sid was an expert mime, had remarkable gesturing, and had learned fingerspelling and a dose of ASL from Eddie. Since I had acted in camp and school plays, I was intrigued by this visual-gestural communication. I must have tucked ASL deep into my gray matter, but I did not pursue it until much later. (Sid became attached to the Deaf community and starred with deaf actress Phyllis Frelich in Love Is Never Silent, a Broadway show based on the 1970 novel by Joanne Greenberg, In This Sign. I dedicated my doctoral dissertation to him.

I began my PhD program in 1976 at New York University (NYU). It was chaired by Neil Postman, and inspired by Marshall McLuhan, examined communication environments. Each student was to select a communication medium to analyze throughout the program. I did not know what to choose. The very evening before the decision deadline, on my way to class, I entered the wrong room and found twelve Deaf students, hands flying in the air in lively conversation. I stood there gaping. This was definitely not Sid and Eddie's language. I excused myself and closed the door. I turned around to find an announcement for an intensive course in ASL...

与众不同万岁
以下是内容的简要摘录,以代替摘要: 差异万岁! Elena Radutzky(简历) 熟悉我的人都知道,我患有两种严重的慢性疾病。第一种是类风湿性关节炎,它造成了一些严重后果,其中最严重的是影响了我的手语表达能力。我再也不能握拳,也不能竖起手指。因此,我的聋人同事戏谑地告诉我,我现在打手语时 "口齿不清",像个酒鬼。我的第二种慢性病是精神强迫症:我总是被驱使着去保证那些被剥夺了交流机会的人能够获得交流,这种痛苦可以追溯到我进入聋人世界之前很久。1944 年,我出生在布鲁克林一个来自四个国家的东欧移民家庭。他们来到纽约港,受到(所谓的)自由女神像的欢迎!这是多么难得的语言机会啊:我本可以毫不费力地成为多语言和多文化的人,每个祖父母只需用他们的语言对我说话。没机会了!他们都被威逼利诱,认为要想成功,就必须摆脱自己的语言、文化和口音,(天哪)绝不能用英语以外的任何语言和孙辈交谈。当祖父母用乌克兰语交谈时,我和妹妹会走进房间。祖母会立刻低声对祖父说 "Onuki tut"("孙子们来了"),然后他们就会立刻换成蹩脚的英语。年幼的我气坏了!幸运的是,我的皮特叔叔娶了玛丽亚,她是一位美丽的古巴女人,会说一种我家人听不懂的语言--西班牙语!就这样!我决心掌握这门语言。(我甚至 [尾页 421] 点击查看大图 查看完整分辨率 图 1.美国电视喜剧演员希德-凯撒。照片由作者提供。我的名字从埃伦(Ellen)改成了埃琳娜(Elena)。我在初中和高中学习了西班牙语,学士学位主修西班牙语,然后在西班牙生活和学习了一年半,西班牙语变得非常流利。显然,我的语言匮乏与大多数聋哑儿童的经历完全不同。是的,我从小就被剥夺了双语的机会,但我从父母那里学到了母语英语,这让我在适当的发展时期获得了认知和语言的全面发展。此外,父母完全接受了我,认为我与他们相似。而 95% 的聋哑儿童并非如此,他们的父母都是健听人。是什么吸引我走进聋人世界和手语呢?我的父亲恰好是美国著名电视喜剧演员和哑剧演员希德-凯撒(Sid Caesar,图 1)的好友。从十岁起,我就经常在希德家过周末。他有一个聋人园丁,名叫艾迪,这是我的第一次聋人经历。艾迪没有和希德一起使用完整的美国手语(ASL),但他们相处得 [第 422 页结束] 很好,因为希德是个哑剧高手,手势非常出色,还从艾迪那里学会了手指拼写和一些美国手语。因为我曾在夏令营和学校的戏剧中表演过,所以我对这种视觉和手势的交流很感兴趣。我一定是把 ASL 深深地藏进了我的大脑,但直到很久以后我才继续学习。(希德与聋人社区结下了不解之缘,并与聋人女演员菲利斯-弗莱里奇(Phyllis Frelich)共同主演了根据乔安妮-格林伯格(Joanne Greenberg)1970 年的小说《手语》改编的百老汇剧目《爱永不沉默》。我将我的博士论文献给了他。1976 年,我开始在纽约大学(NYU)攻读博士学位。该项目由尼尔-波兹曼(Neil Postman)主持,受马歇尔-麦克卢汉(Marshall McLuhan)的启发,研究传播环境。每个学生都要选择一种传播媒介进行分析。我不知道该选什么。就在决定截止日期的前一天晚上,在去教室的路上,我走错了教室,发现有十二个聋哑学生在热烈地交谈,手在空中飞舞。我呆呆地站在那里。这绝对不是希德和埃迪的语言。我借故离开,关上了门。我转过身,发现一则 ASL 强化课程的公告......
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来源期刊
Sign Language Studies
Sign Language Studies LINGUISTICS-
CiteScore
1.80
自引率
6.70%
发文量
11
期刊介绍: Sign Language Studies publishes a wide range of original scholarly articles and essays relevant to signed languages and signing communities. The journal provides a forum for the dissemination of important ideas and opinions concerning these languages and the communities who use them. Topics of interest include linguistics, anthropology, semiotics, Deaf culture, and Deaf history and literature.
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