Resumen
There has been a long-standing debate in Western societies when it comes to deafness on whether it should be represented as being a
disability or if it should be represented as being a
difference (Davis, 1995; Lane, 1995 ; Brueggemann, 1999). However, in a few isolated villages around the world where a high incidence of multi-generational genetic deafness has initiated a community-based approach to deafness which developed independently from the dominating Western ideas, this debate does not seem to have the same impact. Bengkala, a small farming village located in the mountainous region of northern Bali, Indonesia, is one of these exceptional villages. In Bengkala, the deaf residents, known locally as
koloks, have been present in the village for over 200 years during which many community-based adaptations, notably the widespread use of the shared sign language,
Kata kolok, have aimed to include the
koloks in all village activities. To have a more in-depth understanding of just how well integrated the
koloks are in their native community, this ethnographic research applied both participant observation and one on one interviews to document the
koloks’ social representation of deafness. Social representations (SR) are frames of reference to which individuals are continuously referring themselves to identify objects, to determine the best actions to take in any given situation and to understand the world around them (Palmonari & Emiliani, 2017; Jodelet, 1994). By studying the
koloks social representation of deafness and the d/Deaf identity, this research shows that by maintaining simultaneous membership to the
kolok ingroup as well as the
village ingroup, the
koloks represent themselves as fully integrated members of Bengkala. Thus, this research highlights the positive outcomes of having an unadulterated perception of deafness through community-based adaptations as opposed to prescriptive beliefs of the d/Deaf persons social identity and social inclusion from the hearing society.
Palabras Clave (separar con comas)
Social Representations, Social Identity, Deafness, Deaf Community