136 Deaf Epistemologies, Identity, and Learning
linguistic minority” and “equal citizenship” can be seen as moments in the dynam-
ics of emancipation. Jerry’s narrative of consciousness raising in the early 1990s is
echoed in the story of Xander, a young deaf person who describes his awakening in
the 2000s:Then I went to a deaf program in [northern Europe]: That counts for me!...
That was where most of my waking up happened.... I was in a group of inter-
national deaf people, and most of them, their parents had learned and used
sign language. I could finally experience life to the fullest, and get to know
myself. That boosted my self-esteem. Many deaf signers have become role
models for me: They have rich lives and are independent....
I think all deaf children should be immersed in deaf culture. Then, when
they have questions about life, their existence, they can find answers right
away. They don’t have to wait until they are older and have developed their
oral skills. Deaf children need their identity as roots to grow and develop. The
objective is not to live separately, but rather the opposite: to live together with
hearing people.
Xander employs the metaphor of roots growing; similar images, such as a flower
blooming, also emerge in such narratives (see also Christie & Wilkins, 2007) in ref-
erence to sign language and the collective, core constructions vital to deaf people’s
survival (Mindess, 1999; Ladd, 2003). The narrative also touches on their collective
knowledge and visual storytelling tradition.
As illustrated by Jerry and Xander, Flemish deaf people in the 1990s and 2000s saw
the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Nordic countries as places where
deaf people had acquired a more equal position in society. This process of awak-
ening through transnational contact is continuing today (as illustrated by Agnes in
the introductory section); however, it is important to notice that more information
has become available in Flanders since the mid-1990s, through sign language and
deaf cultural/Deafhood courses, bilingual-bicultural education, and scientific re-
search, which has also contributed to awakening. To gain further insight into the
formation of Flemish deaf identities in interaction with these European and global
developments and stages of emancipation, in a 2009 publication, I explore iden-
tity dynamics in these countries through an overview of social and cultural science
studies (De Clerck, 2009a).
In the United States, Jankowski (1997) conducted an analysis of the deaf commu-
nity’s dominant rhetoric and counter-rhetoric. The community worked actively to
preserve what is now known as ASL at the end of the 19th century. In the 1960s, lib-
eratory discourses from minority groups were distributed. In the 1970s, information
on ASL linguistics became available, and the deaf community drew upon frame-
works of ethnic minorities to redefine itself as a linguistic and cultural minority
group. Oralist practices and labels that perpetuated images of the deaf as “handi-
capped” were countered. They critically reacted against the disability movement’s
advocacy of mainstreamed and inclusive education, which was threatening the sur-
vival of the deaf community. At deaf schools, children acquired sign language and
deaf cultural traditions.