 3:12
Thursday, December 13, 2001Knocking
Down Walls Hearing Health Gives
Praise to
Gallaudet University Press Titles
Hearing Health magazine recently reminded readers in its
From the Archives
feature of one of Gallaudet's classic titles No
Walls of Stone: An Anthology of Literature by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Writers,
edited by Jill Jepson. Hearing Health cites the glowing notices that No Walls of Stone
received when it was first published, saying that ...the reviews said it all. And they're
still relevant today.
The first collection of literature ever published by GUPress, No
Walls of Stone showcases short fiction, essays, verse, and drama exclusively
by deaf and hard of hearing writers. Anthropologist Edward Hall has
described literature as a rich and yet untapped source of information about how
people perceive the world, Jepson writes in her introduction. My interest in collecting the writings
of deaf and hard of hearing people stemmed, in part, from my belief that
literature could serve as a doorway into the world of deafness. The resulting
anthology, No Walls of Stone, provides exactly what I had hoped for -- a
glimpse into the perceptions, experiences, and ideas of people living with
deafness or hearing loss.
Jepson continues: This collection is distinct because it is
written not by scholars using the analytic methods of social sciences, but by
artists who know deafness or hearing loss from first-hand experience. Read reviews for No Walls of Stone
from Publisher's
Weekly and The
Washington Post Book World here. You can also read excerpts of poems by Anne
McDonald and Raymond
Luczak and order
No Walls of Stone at your exclusive subscriber rate of 20% off the regular
price today.
The late William C. Stokoe's Language in
Hand: Why Sign Came Before Speech
also received warm praise from Hearing
Health, which noted that Stokoe demonstrates how our ancestors powers of observation and natural hand
movements could have evolved into signed morphemes. In this seminal work, Stokoe writes: There is no direct evidence as to how language began, but some speculations are better
grounded, more susceptible to proof or disproof, than others. Accounts like those in Genesis, for example,
may be true; they cannot be disproved. I believe, however, that any scientific theory about the beginning of
language has to observe the order given here -- gesture to language to speech -- if that theory is to
stand up to rigorous testing. The crux of the argument lies in the nature of the
signs: visible signs can look like what they signify; signs made of sound cannot,
but this is not the whole story. Read the complete review
and order
Language in Hand.
Disabilities Studies Quarterly (DSQ) recognizes Sounds Like
Home:
Growing Up Black and Deaf in the South by Mary Herring Wright in its
forthcoming issue.
Looking
back on the difficulties and accomplishments of her childhood and youth, Wright
describes her life as one of enduring faith, perseverance and
optimism. Above all, Sounds
Like Home is a welcomed illustration of the quiet resolve and considerable
accomplishments of working women of all colors and communities. Their efforts
grace our lives forever; their stories only infrequently enrich our books.
Read DSQs complete
review here and order Sounds Like Home.
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