The Experiences of Literary Hands

Abstract

In this article, we consider the experience of the "literary hands" of deaf people—individuals who create cultural values linked to deaf culture—based on research developed in the field of cultural studies in education and Deaf studies. We draw on data collected for Mourão's doctoral research (2016) and describe the sign language literary experiences of the members of the deaf community who, in various ways, work with Deaf literature. Our aim is to analyze deaf people's experience of Deaf literature and the paths that have led to their concept of literary hands. This is a qualitative study, based on the accounts of nine deaf Brazilians and three deaf people from other countries. The experiences and literary training of the interviewees come from the deaf storytellers and environments that enable deaf individuals to come together: literary festivals in sign languages and deaf educational environments that value and provide visibility to the literary hands. Thus, experiences with Deaf literature become part of cultural identification and belonging to the deaf community.