Deaf in the USSR: Marginality, Community, and Soviet Identity, 1917-1991

by Claire L. Shaw

In Deaf in the USSR , Claire L. Shaw asks what it meant to be deaf in a culture that was founded on a radically utopian, socialist view of human perfectibility. Shaw reveals how fundamental contradictions inherent in the Soviet revolutionary project were negotiated―both individually and collectively― by a vibrant and independent community of deaf people who engaged in complex ways with Soviet ideology. Deaf in the USSR engages with a wide range of sources from both deaf and hearing perspectives―archival sources, films and literature, personal memoirs, and journalism―to build a multilayered history of deafness. This book will appeal to scholars of Soviet history and disability studies as well as those in the international deaf community who are interested in their collective heritage. Deaf in the USSR will also enjoy a broad readership among those who are interested in deafness and disability as a key to more inclusive understandings of being human and of language, society, politics, and power.

Genres: Disability, History, Nonfiction, Russia

310 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2017

Reviews

[Aaron Makepeace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to read this in an effort to find any parallels between multiple deaf communites in their struggle for existence, language & identity. I found there are many similarities that permeate borders & ideologies, the oralist & medical viewpoint being two of them. A worthwhile read for anyone interested in such matters.

[Maxim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was published after other such books were written about deaf communities in different countries. I found it to be very dense, wordy, and academic, yet the level of detail provided a lot of insight about the way in which the deaf community evolved over the course of the soviet union. The complexity of the author's analysis and reliance on primary sources made the book interesting to read, even from the perspective of a non-academic.