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Adjusting the Margins: Building Bridges Between Deaf and Hearing Cultures Through Performance Arts

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Adjusting the Margins: Building Bridges Between Deaf and Hearing Cultures Through Performance Arts ADJUSTING THE MARGINS: BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN DEAF AND HEARING CULTURES THROUGH PERFORMANCE ARTS LUANE RUTH DAVIS HAGGERTY A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership & Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2006 This is to certify that the dissertation entitled: ADJUSTING THE MARGINS: BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN DEAF AND HEARING CULTURES THROUGH PERFORMANCE ARTS prepared by Luane Ruth Davis Haggerty is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership & Change. Approved by: Dr. Carolyn Kenny, Chair date Dr. Elizabeth Holloway, Member date Dr. Stephanie Polowe Aldersley, Member date Dr. Robert Panara, External Reader date Copyright 2006 Luane Ruth Davis Haggerty All rights reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No project of this size could have any possibility of being carried out by one person. The following people have shown support for my vision and a willingness to see the project through to fruition. Without their support emotionally, intellectually, and practically I could not possibly have come this far. My most sincere and heartfelt thanks to: Simon Carmel – (RIT retired) For putting his whole self into this project: physically, by starring in the show; intellectually, by adding his own research into Deaf Folklore to mine in the writing of the script; and emotionally, by believing whole-heartedly in the value of this project. Dr. Carolyn Kenny – (Antioch) For her support and guidance through the maze of research methods to help me find one that suits my nature. She showed me how to have confidence in my work by never allowing me to give up on my vision. Dr. Elizabeth Holloway – (Antioch) For creating a learning environment where I could thrive. Dr. Stephanie Polowe Aldersley – (RIT, Creative and Cultural Studies) For teaching me to navigate the politics of town and academia. Dr. Bonnie Meath-Lang – (Artistic Director of NTID Performing Arts Department) For accepting the position of NTID Performing Arts liaison for this project and for procuring departmental support of the project. Dr. Joseph Bochner – (RIT Chair, Creative and Cultural Studies) For the additional support to bring in a guest artist for Windows of the Soul as well as assistance during the rehearsal process. iv Dr. Robert Panara – (RIT Retired) For showing me the way through example. Dr. Karen Christie – (RIT, Creative and Cultural Studies) For reading my work at various stages, including the script and literature review, and for giving me frank feedback. Dr. J. Matt Searls – (RIT Deaf Studies Chair) For listening to my troubles and providing all the support, consultation, and feedback I needed to keep the integrity of this project intact. Dr. Harry Lang – (RIT Research department) For willingly giving me Deaf Culture advice, acting as Dramaturge, and providing research methods consulting. Peter Haggerty – (RIT/NTID Associate Professor of English) For being my writing consultant and editor, assisting with dramaturgy, and serving as a board member of Interborough Repertory Theater. Most special thanks for the personal support given as a husband, friend, and colleague. Patti Jacobs – For using her web design and graphic artistry to make my cyber-ideas a reality. Finally, my deepest thanks to all of the acquaintances, friends, and family who gave of themselves eagerly and without reservation to the work of sharing their lived experiences. v ABSTRACT This study addresses a gap in scholarship on leadership styles in the Deaf community. There is an invisible style of leadership differing from the mainstream culture that has not been previously addressed in the literature at any depth. My study was composed of three interlocking parts in a sequence that constitutes the practice of anthropology: fieldwork, analysis, and presentation. The foundation for my fieldwork was an “archeology of the structure of the perceived world” (Merleau-Ponty), using the holding environment of the rehearsal process and the structural process of an acting technique called Del-Sign. Del- Sign is a fusion acting style that I created by combining American Sign Language and the Delsarte method. I also employed current qualitative methods described as “performance ethnography” (Norman Denzin and Ron Pelias). The fieldwork of creating discussion groups, which I call salons, provided the initial material, my analysis process turned that material into a performance script; and audience participation in the form of talk-back sessions after the performance provided documentation for the results of the presentation. I provided data for the fieldwork with journaling and videotaping events in rehearsals and performances, director’s notes, and observations. The participants in this study offered great contributions to the research design, and social and cultural contexts were shifted by their action in the research. Their participation was analyzed in the context of Action Research (Argyris, 1985). The resulting findings from the data were compared to anthropological and folkloric theories of performance and style. I was able to create and study a bridge, created through performance, between a hearing audience and a marginalized and, therefore, often oppressed Deaf culture. Analysis of the data indicted vi that this performance bridge was the critical element of potential “change” in my study, thus addressing the gap in scholarly literature. Individuals in both the audience and the cast reported a change in perception about the opposing culture. The study results also indicated a unique style of leadership by Deaf people within a Deaf community that is collaborative in nature yet values the individual. I trust further study into that aspect of Deaf leadership will indeed adjust the margins of society. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv ABSTRACT vi LIST OF FIGURES xii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 A Beginning: Positioning the Researcher 1 Meta-Culture 8 What Is the Subject of Your Work? 8 So Are Your Subjects Deaf? 9 Theoretical and Practical Foundations 11 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 16 Purpose and Focus of the Review of Deaf Leadership 16 Stories of Deaf Leadership 17 Historical Perspective From the Mainstream 17 Historical Perspective From the Deaf Community 21 Deaf Leaders in Residential Schools 27 Traits and Styles 32 Deaf Leaders in Business 32 Storytelling: A Foundation for Deaf Influential Leadership 35 Storytelling Provides a Cultural Bridge 36 Comparison of Minority Leadership and Deaf Leadership 37 African-American Leadership 37 Minority Leadership Requires a Community Base 40 Women’s Leadership 41 viii Native American Leadership 44 Minority Leaders’ Need for a Sense of Self 46 Leadership Literature on Self-Esteem 48 Deaf Leaders Need to Tell Their Own Stories 50 Mainstream Culture’s Story of Deaf Leadership 51 Deaf Culture’s Stories of Leadership 53 Deaf Leadership Revealed and Developed Through Arts-Based Practice 56 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 59 Position in the Philosophy and Theory of Science 59 Description of Research Methods 63 Description of the Process 72 Specifics of the Methods Used in This Study 77 Selection of Participants 82 Summary 88 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS OF THE STUDY 92 List of Ethnographic Data 93 A Narrative Summary of the Field Notes for the Production Windows of the Soul 94 Translating Raw Interview Data Into a Theatrical Script 111 Transcription from Writer's journal - Notes on how to build the stories into a script 116 The Haggertarian Characters 1199 The Politically Correct “Honorable” Deaf Person—Leading Player 1222 The Shirker—Villain or Comic Relief 1244 “Honorable” Hard of Hearing and Ethnic Minority Supporting Character—Comic Character 1266 ix Hearing Child of Deaf Adults (CODA): Supporting Character— Tragic Figure 129 Hearing Interpreter—Minor Supporting Character 1311 Hearing Spouse—Minor Supporting Character 1333 Hearing But Is Employed in the Deaf Community (Educator)— Minor Supporting Character 1344 Hearing Parent or Family Member of a Deaf Person—Minor Character 1366 The Poet, “Unacknowledged Legislator” (Shelley)—Narrator or Bridge Character 1388 The Writer 14040 Performance Process: Director’s Notes as Published in the Program 1411 Production Script 1455 Comments From the Talk-Back Sessions, Email, and After-Show Feedback From the Rochester Audience 210 Transcription of ASL Conversation About Deaf Identity (Rehearsal Video Tape) 210 Email Correspondence 211 "Worlds Apart," a Poem by Patti McAllister (Voice Actor in Windows of the Soul) 215 Representative Responses From the New York City Production 215 "Places People," a Poem by Lou Labriola (Deaf Actor in Windows of the Soul) 218 CHAPTER FIVE: A DISCUSSION OF THE PROCESS 221 The Fieldwork—“Salons” 221 The Analysis—Script Development 225 The Presentation—Performance Discussion 232 Cast Comments on Performance 233 x Post Production—Audience Response and Feedback 235 Cultural Sensitivity and Transformational Learning 239 Analysis and Interpretation 241 Action Research 243 CHAPTER SIX: THE INTEGRITY OF THE ART 246 The Hermeneutic Circle 248 Spatiality 248 Temporality 251 Relationality 253 Corporality 255 The Deaf Community’s Natural Art 258 APPENDIX A: PROPOSAL TO NTID PERFORMING ARTS FOR A PRODUCTION 261 APPENDIX B: LETTER OF INFORMED CONSENT TO THE CAST 267 APPENDIX C: JOURNAL SKETCH OF PRODUCTION NOTES 270 APPENDIX D: IRB APPROVAL 276 REFERENCES 278 xi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. Rehearsal photo from the first Del-Sign production of Michael Frayn’s Noises Off done at the Samuel Beckett Theater on 42nd Street in New York City, 1993. 15 Figure 2.1. Selena Alverio, Carlos Mendez in Eye Music; The cast of IRT’s Twelfth Night in NYC; and Carolyn Yu in Lute Song. Del-Sign theatrical productions that celebrate Deaf community. 16 Figure 3.1. Anthony Buscato and his group “Tribe” evidence Deaf leadership in the natural setting of a poetry performance at Wallace Library at Rochester Institute of Technology. 59 Figure 3.2. Pentimento. 68 Figure 3.3. Five-part methodological process. 78 Figure 3.4. Elements of the daily rehearsal. 81 Figure 4.1. Windows of the Soul poster.
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