Disabled Discourse: Hearing accounts of deafness constructed through Japanese television and film

Abstract

Representations of deafness in the Japanese media are incorporated into the dominant discourse of disability. Deafness is accorded the terminology, institutionalised television slots and conventional narratives of disability. Special virtues and talents are assumed, including heroic perseverance through obstacles. Deaf characters are conceived in isolation, through a tragic loss of communication that brings abandonment and loneliness. This entrapment in a domain that embodies the gendered virtues and cultural values of silence is a hearing construction. Perceived losses and gains in communication and understanding are used as dramatic devices for characterisation, commentary and crisis. With regard to the availability of alternative accounts and interpretations, however, deaf people should not be presumed to be victims of as well as in the dramas.