DEAF 402 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Munster, Deafblindness, Helen Keller
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
19th Century Stories with Deaf Characters, continued
- Trent Batson and Eugene Bergman – Editors of “Angels and Outcasts”
o Bergman is deaf and Holocaust survivor
▪ “The Survival Artist”
▪ Born hearing and became deaf when 9 because he was beat by a rifle by a
Nazi soldier
o Book became successful because…
▪ Hearing people were curious and wanted to read about deaf experience
▪ Better understanding of deaf oppression
▪ Wanted to clarify the history of the deaf community
- “Pierre and Camille”
o What is the main point of the story? Use only 1-2 sentences and write it on
the board.
▪ To teach a lesson about staying faithful in supporting your family. Early
on in the book there were a lot of negatives about Deaf people that finally
changed to positives in the end.
▪ All about parents and their feelings and never from the daughter’s
perspective
▪ Thought her thinking was limited because of her inability to hear and
speak
▪ Challenge the systematic thinking of the Deaf being incapable of having
an education, acquiring and learning language
o What might be the author’s purpose for incorporating the two deaf
characters – Pierre and Camille?
▪ Changed the story from a negative point of view to a positive one with the
addition of a husband and the ability to have and take care of a family
o Deaf Character: Camille
▪ How is the deaf character portrayed or described in the story? To
what extent is the portrayal or description authentic?
• Emotional when mom died (crying loud)
• Feels alone even when around other kids
• Described as a prop
▪ What is the attitude towards the deaf character?
• Pity
• Thinks she was born deaf because of a sin the parents did
• Very quiet
• Focuses more on her beauty than the fact that she’s deaf
o Deaf Character: Pierre
▪ How is the deaf character portrayed or described in the story? To
what extent is the portrayal or description authentic?
• Portrayed as someone who changed Camille’s life in a positive
way
• Showed her that she can communicate, can learn, can be apart of
society, and so much more
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