Nurturing Deaf Flourishing Sustainably 235
However, in terms of conceptual growth, the shared performance also touched
upon differences in the development trajectories of Cameroon’s central regions
and Extreme North and upon the power hierarchies and binaries that have come
with the notion of “modernity.” Ferguson (2008) writes that the “power of the
notion of ‘modernity’ lies in its capacity to articulate temporal inequalities, classify-
ing some as modern and others as ‘not yet’” (p. 16). The genealogical approach in-
troduced at the beginning of this section enables us to juxtapose marginalized prac-
tices of knowledge and what can be seen as the “ideologically self-evident sources of
modernity” (p. 14).
These differences frequently came to the forefront during the WFD training. In
the central areas, few hearing people know CSL and, due to limited access to edu-
cational opportunities, employment, and marriage, deaf people often feel excluded
from society (also see Chapter 5). In contrast, in the Extreme North, many hearing
people sign so deaf individuals do not experience inequalities to the same extent.
Its regional representative at the training emphasized that deaf people there do not
beg, but work on farms or have businesses. They are also likely to be married and own
land and houses.
passing on sign language and deaf cultural knowledge over several generations
has given this community a rich heritage, complete with stories about its origins and
history. Although most members are functionally illiterate, their inclusion and access
has enabled them to develop literate thought and a well-informed and critical under-
standing of life, governance, and politics, as well as the ability to sustain themselves
economically.
However, the Extreme North is often viewed as “poor” and “behind in develop-
ment,” for example, because of its linguistic behavior and belated establishment
of deaf schools in the 2000s. The community refers to its language with an indig-
enous sign and also sometimes with the sign for “chicken,” which is common in
Cameroon to refer to deaf people who use gestures and have not received formal
education, as explained in Chapter 5. Its use in this context appears therefore to
stem from an educational ideology that grants a lower status to deaf people in
rural areas, whose gestural communication and indigenous sign languages such as
ExNorthCamSL differ from the ASL- or LSF-influenced variants used in education
(also Lutalo-Kiingi & De Clerck, 2015a).
In the drama, Mr. Amadoua challenged this binary of modernity and rural
tradition by informing his friend from Douala about the “good life” in the Ex-
treme North, expressed by the metaphor of abundant food. The creative wit and
skillfulness of the drama illuminates a sense of leadership, dignity, and confi-
dence in the Extreme North as it explores the space between commonality and
diversity in responding to community challenges. The dynamics and awareness
in dealing sustainably with changed circumstances can also be seen in the Ex-
treme North’s initiative to (re)vitalize their language, inviting Dr. Lutalo-Kiingi
to spearhead this work. This awareness is also palpable in elders’ concern about
the generational transmission of cultural and linguistic practices being trun-
cated by the new deaf school, with its use of Western ideology and a majority
sign language.