Lend Me Your Ear: Rhetorical Constructions of Deafness

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Brueggemann's rigorously argued study assails the 2, 500 year-old tradition of rhetoric that emphasizes speech as a defining characteristic of reason because it disallows deaf people human identity due to their natural silence. Brueggemann's challenge is both erudite and personal, she writes both as a scholar and as a hard-of-hearing woman. She presents a profound analysis and understanding of descendent disciplines that continue to limit deaf people (e.g., audiology, speech/language pathology). Next to this even-handed scholarship, she juxtaposes a volatile emotional counterpoint through interviews of Deaf individuals restricted by rhetorical constructions, and through her own poetry and memoirs. This kinetic study demands consideration of deafness in terms of the rhetoric of Deaf culture, American Sign Language (ASL), and the political activism of Deaf people. Brueggemann argues for a reevaluation of the speech model of rhetoric in light of the singular qualities of ASL poetry, a genre that adds the dimension of space and is not disembodied. The speech imperative in traditional rhetoric also fails to present rhetorical forms for listening, or a rhetoric of silence. These and other break-out concepts will stimulate scholars and students of rhetoric, language, and Deaf studies to return to this intriguing work again and again.