Periodic Reporting for period 4 - MobileDeaf (Deaf mobilities across international borders: Visualising intersectionality and translanguaging)
Reporting period: 2021-10-01 to 2023-09-30
Skilled deaf signers have unique opportunities for cosmopolitanism, meaning they can communicate across different sign languages and national borders. Deaf individuals from various countries meet in many situations. These include attending or hosting conferences, participating in deaf sports events, and attending festivals. They also travel as tourists, work as guides for international tourists, move to new countries where they interact with local and other migrant deaf people, or relocate to refugee camps from war-torn countries, meeting other deaf refugees and locals.
The MobileDeaf research project focused on how deaf people moved and communicated in these international meetings. A key part of the study was understanding how being deaf intersected with factors like nationality, ethnicity, education level, and gender. The project used the concept of intersectionality, which looks at power, inequality, and oppression, to see how these factors create opportunities or empowerment for deaf people in international spaces.
While intersectionality was useful in exploring social interactions and movements among deaf and hearing people in various settings, the concept of translanguaging was helpful in understanding how they navigated differences. Translanguaging refers to the use of different elements from various languages and modes of communication. In spaces where translanguaging occurred, deaf signers used various methods like gestures, International Sign, and quickly learning new sign languages. They sometimes combined these with writing, mouthing, or fingerspelling. The project examined the strategic use of these diverse communication methods in interactions between deaf people from different countries, the attitudes towards these practices, and the personal experiences of translanguaging.
The MobileDeaf research project focused on how deaf people moved and communicated in these international meetings. A key part of the study was understanding how being deaf intersected with factors like nationality, ethnicity, education level, and gender. The project used the concept of intersectionality, which looks at power, inequality, and oppression, to see how these factors create opportunities or empowerment for deaf people in international spaces.
While intersectionality was useful in exploring social interactions and movements among deaf and hearing people in various settings, the concept of translanguaging was helpful in understanding how they navigated differences. Translanguaging refers to the use of different elements from various languages and modes of communication. In spaces where translanguaging occurred, deaf signers used various methods like gestures, International Sign, and quickly learning new sign languages. They sometimes combined these with writing, mouthing, or fingerspelling. The project examined the strategic use of these diverse communication methods in interactions between deaf people from different countries, the attitudes towards these practices, and the personal experiences of translanguaging.
Amandine le Maire conducted research on forced migration at the Kakuma Refugee camp in Kenya. She discovered areas within the camp where deaf people of various nationalities and ethnic backgrounds would gather, like specific sections in schools, a deaf church group, and a shop owned by a deaf woman. Their use of sign language was versatile: Kenyan Sign Language and American Sign Language were common in formal camp settings, but some refugees also used the sign languages and gestures or spoken languages from their homelands. Amandine documented challenges faced by deaf people, such as not having linguistic access to vital information and services.
Steven Emery and Sanchayeeta Iyer researched labor and marriage migration in London. Through field visits and interviews across the city, they observed how deaf migrants participated in various deaf spaces, like in places of worship, pubs, cafes, cinemas, community centers, colleges, and clubs. They noted how deaf migrants integrate into existing deaf networks in London, without a central location for meeting. They found that migration influenced people's deaf identities; some found their deaf identity and learned to sign only after moving to London, while others already knew sign language and might or might not learn British Sign Language. The study particularly highlighted how being newly married, queer, or actively practicing a religion (Christian or Muslim) affected deaf individuals' social interactions and sense of belonging. Sanchayeeta produced a 1-hour film titled "Finding spaces to belong": https://mobiledeaf.org.uk/film/belong/
Annelies Kusters engaged in multisite research on professional mobility at international locations. She conducted studies at various events, including a conference in Brazil, a training course in Denmark, a Bible translation center in Kenya, a festival in France, conferences, and the Deaflympics in Italy. She organized focus groups and interviews about International Sign, a flexible, translingual practice used internationally. Annelies created a series of six ethnographic films named "This is IS": https://mobiledeaf.org.uk/film/thisisis/
Erin Moriarty studied tourist mobility in Bali, Indonesia, observing deaf tourists from different countries and their interactions with deaf local guides. Erin also interviewed deaf tourists to Bali whom she located through the deaf information network on Facebook. Her research included deaf Indonesians who interacted with tourists, such as those in deaf schools and a tourist village with many deaf inhabitants. Erin produced an ethnographic film called "#deaftravel: Deaf tourism in Bali": https://mobiledeaf.org.uk/film/deaf-tourism-in-bali/
We studied deaf networks that reached beyond usual social and geographical limits, showing their adaptability and flexibility. Our look into translocality—how people create meaningful connections across various locations—showed that temporary places can become important in the global network of deaf individuals. This project also pointed out the different ways deaf people find a sense of belonging, which is impacted by systems of oppression including racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and ableism. Language played a central role in this study, especially global languages like International Sign, American Sign Language, and English, and their importance in the complex situations that come with mobility and migration. We came up with the term “calibration” to describe how people adjust and tune their way of communicating through sign language with others. The relationship between mobility and the lack of it (immobility) was another key topic.
The MobileDeaf project wrapped up its series of eight in-depth ethnographic films with a ninth, a behind-the-scenes documentary called "Birthing a Genre." https://mobiledeaf.org.uk/film/birthing/ which introduced "deaf ethnographic film" as a new genre. Ethnographic films differ from traditional documentaries by avoiding scripted narration and instead authentically depicting the experiences of deaf people. This requires them to use particular types of shots and sign-language based editing methods. These films, deeply embedded in the ethnographic work of the MobileDeaf project, allow for a natural development of themes and narratives. The project has thus added new content and pioneered novel filmmaking techniques, creating a unique space in ethnographic cinema. Audience reception studies were carried out in various settings, including academic, community, and the original research sites, to assess the educational impact and the influence on perceptions of international communication. The films excelled as educational tools and have the potential to change perceptions, especially regarding language practices.
Our upcoming book, "Deaf Mobility Studies," will be important for Deaf Studies. It offers a critical look at current ideas in the field and includes a thorough chapter on research methods that could influence methods courses in Deaf Studies and team-based research. The book incorporates quotes and film scene analyses of our films directly linked within the text.
Steven Emery and Sanchayeeta Iyer researched labor and marriage migration in London. Through field visits and interviews across the city, they observed how deaf migrants participated in various deaf spaces, like in places of worship, pubs, cafes, cinemas, community centers, colleges, and clubs. They noted how deaf migrants integrate into existing deaf networks in London, without a central location for meeting. They found that migration influenced people's deaf identities; some found their deaf identity and learned to sign only after moving to London, while others already knew sign language and might or might not learn British Sign Language. The study particularly highlighted how being newly married, queer, or actively practicing a religion (Christian or Muslim) affected deaf individuals' social interactions and sense of belonging. Sanchayeeta produced a 1-hour film titled "Finding spaces to belong": https://mobiledeaf.org.uk/film/belong/
Annelies Kusters engaged in multisite research on professional mobility at international locations. She conducted studies at various events, including a conference in Brazil, a training course in Denmark, a Bible translation center in Kenya, a festival in France, conferences, and the Deaflympics in Italy. She organized focus groups and interviews about International Sign, a flexible, translingual practice used internationally. Annelies created a series of six ethnographic films named "This is IS": https://mobiledeaf.org.uk/film/thisisis/
Erin Moriarty studied tourist mobility in Bali, Indonesia, observing deaf tourists from different countries and their interactions with deaf local guides. Erin also interviewed deaf tourists to Bali whom she located through the deaf information network on Facebook. Her research included deaf Indonesians who interacted with tourists, such as those in deaf schools and a tourist village with many deaf inhabitants. Erin produced an ethnographic film called "#deaftravel: Deaf tourism in Bali": https://mobiledeaf.org.uk/film/deaf-tourism-in-bali/
We studied deaf networks that reached beyond usual social and geographical limits, showing their adaptability and flexibility. Our look into translocality—how people create meaningful connections across various locations—showed that temporary places can become important in the global network of deaf individuals. This project also pointed out the different ways deaf people find a sense of belonging, which is impacted by systems of oppression including racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and ableism. Language played a central role in this study, especially global languages like International Sign, American Sign Language, and English, and their importance in the complex situations that come with mobility and migration. We came up with the term “calibration” to describe how people adjust and tune their way of communicating through sign language with others. The relationship between mobility and the lack of it (immobility) was another key topic.
The MobileDeaf project wrapped up its series of eight in-depth ethnographic films with a ninth, a behind-the-scenes documentary called "Birthing a Genre." https://mobiledeaf.org.uk/film/birthing/ which introduced "deaf ethnographic film" as a new genre. Ethnographic films differ from traditional documentaries by avoiding scripted narration and instead authentically depicting the experiences of deaf people. This requires them to use particular types of shots and sign-language based editing methods. These films, deeply embedded in the ethnographic work of the MobileDeaf project, allow for a natural development of themes and narratives. The project has thus added new content and pioneered novel filmmaking techniques, creating a unique space in ethnographic cinema. Audience reception studies were carried out in various settings, including academic, community, and the original research sites, to assess the educational impact and the influence on perceptions of international communication. The films excelled as educational tools and have the potential to change perceptions, especially regarding language practices.
Our upcoming book, "Deaf Mobility Studies," will be important for Deaf Studies. It offers a critical look at current ideas in the field and includes a thorough chapter on research methods that could influence methods courses in Deaf Studies and team-based research. The book incorporates quotes and film scene analyses of our films directly linked within the text.