Kaitlin Patterson and Dr. Charles Nuckolls, Department of Anthropology

I went to India to study gender relations in the family, but as I spent more time there I came to know a group of striking individuals and instead focused my research on a similar topic, film as a mediator of culture, but in this case a mediator for the deaf. The Omkar and Lions School for the Deaf (OLSD) looks out onto the bright blue bay of Visakhapatnam, India. Despite the beautiful view, the students rarely spend time in the water; their time is consumed with other things. They have school to go to, homework to complete, temple to attend, and plenty of cricket to play. As research began with these students, especially in getting to know the older male students who would function as informants for the project, I was introduced to one more activity: dancing. Initial introductions were stilted by the learning curve I faced with gaining proficiency in Indian Sign Language, but rather than give up or lose interest the students were more dedicated to learning about me and introducing themselves. When one branch of conversation ended, they simply found another and when conversation was winding down, I was suddenly asked if I could dance. As someone still new to India and to the students themselves, this question was surprising. That first interview concluded with dancing, not from the researcher as I cannot dance with any sort of skill, but from the students. Why did this topic come up? Why were the students so eager, not just to know if I could dance, but to show that they could dance? Dancing is an important aspect of the greater Indian identity; it is found in homes, children’s schools, parties, clubs, and always present in Indian film.

Indian film, known in the global west primarily as Bollywood film, contains all of the color and vibrancy of Indian life. In many ways it is not simply a reflection of, but an active force in Indian culture. The students at the OLSD face many challenges brought about by their Deafness in a culture that values sound and is still developing a functioning understanding of Deafness. Film, despite its use of sound to communicate meaning, is a readable text for the Deaf student at the OLSD. They participate in Indian film culture just as avidly as many of their age group around the nation. In order to bridge the divide between Hearing and Deaf culture, students at the Omkar Lions School for the Deaf participate in Indian film culture primarily through dance and in so doing can overcome the linguistic, cultural, and opportunity barriers they face in integrating with the larger local culture of Visakhapatnam.

The culmination of these observations and experiences lies in a performance of Hemanaidu and Vehr. They danced in front of a local community of hearing students. That they are able to know these dances, perform them and connect in some way to the audience of Hearing students speaks to the position of film culture in India as an overarching thread in the Indian identity. The event also points to the gap between these students at the OLSD and the Hearing community in Visakhapatnam, India, because of its abnormality. The students are able to identify as Indian through dance, which allows the crowd to rejoice and interact with them in a way that they might not normally be able to do. Media studies and theories of community formation, help to make clear a moment of bridging between the two cultures held by these students, because they occupy both Indian and Deaf identities.

First the notion of a divide, both intentional and unintended, has been proven in research prior between Deaf and Hearing identifying communities (Srinvas 2008). In the case of India this is in some ways because of the slow development of Deaf research and acknowledgement of Deaf culture. Because the students come from Hearing families (with the exception of siblings and in one case a parent), they come in contact with the Hearing community, not just whenever they leave the school, but anytime they go home, forcing them to encounter the divide between the two communities.

Film plays an important role in the internal community of the school, because, outside of cricket, it is one of the major forms of entertainment. This is shown in the use of film stars for the essential identity marker of a name sign, the time they spend watching films, their critiques and engagement with films, the use of films to help reference life through sign, and, of course, dancing. By dancing the students participated with the films, interacting with the media.

However, they are not the only ones to do this. The performances I saw by both Deaf and Hearing were essentially the same, a memorized dance from a favorite movie or by a favorite actor. They are both, Deaf and Hearing, able to interact with film in this way. They take something from the film, the dance, make it external to the film, and introduce it to culture. By dancing, these students are participating in culture. This interaction is able to occur because of the transmission of culture, which is possible through media. Further studies on the use of cricket in this same way to transcend boundaries could prove useful. The burgeoning field of anthropology of media has the benefit of studying a phenomenon that transcends previous boundaries brought about by location, communication and even culture. This study points to a larger construct, the idea of media as a tool for greater community interaction. As mentioned early, Schulz’s idea of media creating an alternative culture that is outside of both is also integral to this idea (Schulz 2007). Whether, this is a tenable third culture or a temporary social context is something that might be explored with further research.

The Deaf students at the Omkar and Lions School who were involved in this study were able to “bridge the gap” between the world of Deaf and Hearing in Visakhapatnam, India. Through dance they could not only participate in a form of entertainment, but also connect and interact with the larger, external Hearing community through the shared passion for film dance.

References

• Schulz, Dorothea E., 2007 Drama, Desire and Debate: Mass-Mediated Subjectivities in Urban Mali. Visual Anthropology.
• Srinivas, S.V., 2008 Cardboard monuments: City, language and ‘nation’ in contemporary Telugu cinema. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 29, 87-100.