My Role in the "Linguistic Awakening" of the Deaf in France

IF 0.5 Q3 LINGUISTICS
Marie-Thérése L'huillier
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Being a young deaf militant woman of deaf parents, I fully participated in the emancipation and the mobilization of the Deaf community of France to defend LSF in Paris, as well as in the provinces, being inspired by the American Deaf movement (France 5 TV 2011). While being a pioneer, I led several professional lives, sometimes overlapping, over forty-three years, notably as teacher (1979–2008), storyteller on the television program <em>Mes mains ont la parole</em> (<em>My Hands Have the Word</em>, 1979–1985), producer of the adult television program <em>L'oeil et la main</em> (<em>The Eye and the Hand</em>, 1994–2003), and teacher, lecturer, and researcher in LSF (2008–2018).</p> <h2>Emergence of Individual and Collective Awareness in the Deaf Community</h2> <p>I will now describe the personal and professional stages of my linguistic and metalinguistic awareness of my mother tongue (LSF) and of written French.</p> <p>On a visit to France in the early 1970s, the American deaf actor Alfredo Corrado noticed that French deaf people were much more isolated than American deaf people in terms of accessibility. 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引用次数: 0

Abstract

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

  • My Role in the "Linguistic Awakening" of the Deaf in France
  • Marie-Thérése L'huillier (bio)

Born deaf, I was immersed in the treasures of LSF (Langue des Signes Français), thanks to my deaf parents. At school, LSF was banished in favor of oralism. During my childhood, the status of my sign language was dichotomous: it existed at home as a mother language and was forbidden at the boarding school in Asnières. At the age of sixteen, I left school with a diploma in sewing.

This article briefly traces my career path, which was initially influenced more by my personal experience than by academic studies, although I did complete studies for a BA and an MA later in my career. By chance, in 1977, the unexpected knocked at the door of my office at the Ministry of Labor, where I was working as a typist. It was my first meeting with Alfredo Corrado, an American deaf actor, and Jean Grémion, a French hearing actor, who led me to a new world at the International Visual Theater (IVT), which they founded that year. My first awareness of the historical banning of LSF dates back to when I became part of the original IVT group. This experience changed my career path and inspired me to become involved in the defense of the linguistic rights of LSF signers. [End Page 376]

Now, considering LSF to be a real language, I dedicated myself to jobs linked to LSF and Deaf culture. Being a young deaf militant woman of deaf parents, I fully participated in the emancipation and the mobilization of the Deaf community of France to defend LSF in Paris, as well as in the provinces, being inspired by the American Deaf movement (France 5 TV 2011). While being a pioneer, I led several professional lives, sometimes overlapping, over forty-three years, notably as teacher (1979–2008), storyteller on the television program Mes mains ont la parole (My Hands Have the Word, 1979–1985), producer of the adult television program L'oeil et la main (The Eye and the Hand, 1994–2003), and teacher, lecturer, and researcher in LSF (2008–2018).

Emergence of Individual and Collective Awareness in the Deaf Community

I will now describe the personal and professional stages of my linguistic and metalinguistic awareness of my mother tongue (LSF) and of written French.

On a visit to France in the early 1970s, the American deaf actor Alfredo Corrado noticed that French deaf people were much more isolated than American deaf people in terms of accessibility. That is why he and Jean Grémion, a French hearing actor, created a theater for the deaf at the Château de Vincennes in Paris in 1976—the International Visual Theater (IVT). They explained that theater is a way to change the way the hearing world looks at deaf people in France and is thus a way to defend our linguistic and cultural rights.

Prior to the creation of the IVT, deaf people—including my parents and me—lived in great misery and faced all kinds of obstacles to accessing knowledge, media, and means of communication. We were unaware of the true linguistic status of our own sign language, which had been prohibited for a long time. Deaf and hearing people have always lived side by side, and yet exchanges remained limited. Each group was unaware of the cultural and linguistic richness of the other.

As soon as I entered the working world in 1976, I felt a linguistic and cultural gap between LSF and French. I had acquired a solid knowledge of the social and cultural context of my mother minority [End Page 377] language, but I lagged behind in understanding the social and cultural context of the majority language.

At that time, the signs for referring to or conceptualizing LSF had not yet emerged, and the notion of Deaf culture was still abstract for many. Corrado and Grémion IVT productions touched on the theme of the colonization of different cultures and languages of the world, and how this led to new discoveries. For me, there was no going back after I left IVT. I decided to dedicate...

我在法国聋人的 "语言觉醒 "中扮演的角色
以下是内容的简要摘录,以代替摘要: 我在法国聋人的 "语言觉醒 "中扮演的角色 Marie-Thérése L'huillier(简历 我出生时是聋人,由于父母是聋人,我一直沉浸在法国手语(LSF)的宝库中。在学校里,LSF 却被弃置一旁,转而学习口语。在我的童年时期,手语的地位是二元对立的:在家里,手语是母语,而在阿斯尼耶寄宿学校,手语是被禁止的。16 岁时,我拿到了缝纫专业的文凭,离开了学校。这篇文章简要回顾了我的职业道路,虽然我在职业生涯的后期完成了文学士和硕士学位的学习,但我的职业道路最初更多地受到个人经历而非学术研究的影响。1977 年,一个偶然的机会,意外地敲响了我在劳动部办公室的门,当时我正在那里担任打字员。这是我与美国聋人演员阿尔弗雷多-克拉多(Alfredo Corrado)和法国听力演员让-格雷米昂(Jean Grémion)的第一次会面,他们带领我进入了国际视觉剧院(IVT)的新世界。我第一次意识到 LSF 在历史上遭到禁止,可以追溯到我成为 IVT 最初的一员时。这段经历改变了我的职业道路,并激励我参与捍卫 LSF 手语使用者的语言权利。[End Page 376] 现在,我认为 LSF 是一种真正的语言,我致力于从事与 LSF 和聋人文化相关的工作。作为一名年轻的聋人女战士,我的父母都是聋人,在美国聋人运动的激励下,我全面参与了解放和动员法国聋人社区在巴黎和外省捍卫 LSF 的活动(法国 5 台,2011 年)。作为一名先驱者,我在四十三年的时间里经历了多种职业生活,有时甚至是重叠的,主要是教师(1979-2008 年)、电视节目《我手有话说》(Mes mains ont la parole,1979-1985 年)的故事讲述者、成人电视节目《眼与手》(L'oeil et la main,1994-2003 年)的制片人,以及聋人社会论坛的教师、讲师和研究员(2008-2018 年)。聋人社区中个人和集体意识的形成 现在,我将描述我对母语(LSF)和书面法语的语言和金属语言意识的个人和专业阶段。20 世纪 70 年代初,美国聋人演员阿尔弗雷多-克拉多(Alfredo Corrado)在访问法国时注意到,法国聋人在无障碍环境方面比美国聋人更加孤立。因此,1976 年,他和法国健听演员让-格雷米昂(Jean Grémion)在巴黎文森城堡为聋人创建了一个剧院--国际视觉剧院(IVT)。他们解释说,戏剧是改变听力世界对法国聋人看法的一种方式,因此也是捍卫我们语言和文化权利的一种方式。在 IVT 成立之前,聋人--包括我和我的父母--生活在水深火热之中,在获取知识、媒体和交流手段方面面临各种障碍。我们不知道自己手语的真实语言地位,手语长期被禁止使用。聋人和健听人一直并肩生活,但交流仍然有限。每个群体都不了解对方丰富的文化和语言。1976 年,我一参加工作,就感觉到了聋人社会论坛与法语之间在语言和文化上的差距。我对母语少数民族 [End Page 377] 语言的社会和文化背景有了扎实的了解,但在理解多数民族语言的社会和文化背景方面却落后了。当时,用于指代或概念化 LSF 的符号尚未出现,聋人文化的概念对许多人来说仍然很抽象。Corrado 和 Grémion IVT 的作品触及了世界不同文化和语言殖民化的主题,以及这如何导致新的发现。对我来说,离开 IVT 后就没有回头路了。我决定致力于...
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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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