Deaf in Japan刊行についての著者からのお知らせ。Japan Forum MLへのメッセージ；
I am pleased to announce that Cornell University Press has published
my book, _Deaf in Japan: Signing and the Politics of Identity_.Here is a short description of the book:
> Until the mid-1970s, deaf people in Japan had few legal rights and
> little social recognition. Legally, they were classified as minors
> or mentally deficient, unable to obtain driver's licenses or sign
> contracts and wills. Many worked at menial tasks or were constantly
> unemployed, and schools for the deaf taught a difficult regimen of
> speechreading and oral speech methods rather than signing. After
> several decades of activism, deaf men and women are now largely
> accepted within mainstream Japanese society.
>
> Deaf in Japan, a groundbreaking study of deaf identity, minority
> politics, and sign language, traces the history of the deaf
> community in Japan, from the establishment of the first schools for
> the deaf in the 1870s to the birth of deaf activist movements in
> the postwar period and current "culture wars" over signing and
> assimilation. Drawing on archival and ethnographic research and in-
> depth interviews with deaf men and women from three generations,
> Karen Nakamura examines shifting attitudes toward and within the
> deaf community.
>
> Nakamura suggests that the notion of "deaf identity" is intimately
> linked with the Japanese view of modernization and Westernization.
> The left-affiliated Japanese Federation of the Deaf embraces an
> assimilationist position, promoting lip-reading and other forms of
> accommodation with mainstream society. In recent years, however,
> young disability advocates, exponents of an American-style radical
> separatism, have promoted the use of Japanese Sign Language.
_Deaf in Japan_ is available in both paperback and hardcover. Here is
the link to the paperback version on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080147356XPlease let me know if you have any questions or comments about the
book or my research.Warmly,
