[Articulating Betweenity]
Opening Articulation (or, Signing On)
To be between is then, to be potentially all or any of these possibilities; to be between is, in essence, to be relational. But whatever the possibility, these elements still hold fairly constant in the between space as articulated by the deaf/hard-of-hearing subjects in the DALN collection:
- It is a space about relationships—a relational space between one’s various identities (and others who share, or don’t, those identities) and also a relational space constructed by (and through) one’s literacy (reading, writing, speaking) skills, particularly in a dominant language.
- It is a rhetorical space, filled with argument and intent and constructed through a triangulated communicative interchange between a three-part “speaker” (or signer), audience, and context/subject. Here too, and again, one’s literate skills—especially in the dominant language—matter much.
- It is a space of education—where the deaf “other” is being educated by, being educated for, being educated with the patterns and process of dominant literacies. But, in converse, it is also a space where the deaf other is potentially educating (hearing) others, and younger/distant deaf others as well—often in and through the non-dominant literacies.
- It is a mediated space—a space mediated by someone (peers, family, significant others, mentors, etc.) or some things (technology, tools). Through this mediation, it is then also a space where writing, reading, and speaking—the act and art of pronunciation (both broadly and strictly conceived)—is happening and is also, “a happening.”
