Peasants, Warriors, and the Streams of Deafness. Language games and etiologies of deafness in Adamorobe, Ghana.

Abstract

Me: Were you born deaf? Kwame Osae: Yes, I was born deaf. Me: How come? You have hearing parents, right? [Being born deaf is usually linked to having deaf parents] Kwame Osae: (slightly confused) I don't know… maybe because of witches. Me: Ama Korkor [Kwame's younger deaf sister] told me that she was born hearing. Kwame Osae: That is not true, we were all born deaf: me, Kofi Pare, Ama Korkor, Yaa Bomo and Yaa Aketewa [i.e. his four younger deaf siblings]. I decided to confront his version with the one of Ama Korkor and I called for her attention. She was sitting a bit further in the compound where they live. I reminded her that she once told me that she was born hearing. Ama Korkor: Yes, I don't know that myself… but my mother told me that I was hearing as a baby… This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.