Essay On Face To Face Culture

1,deafness as a face-to-face culture

Different from literate cultures, face-to-face culture has many features which are shared with deafness as well. According to Ong, face-to-face cultures deliver information in person and meaning is found in the face-to-face communication while literate cultures rely heavily on grammar. As Ong said that face-to-face people find meaning in the person delivering the message and their intent, rather than rigid grammatical structures (Ong, 2002). Stories as a vital part of deaf culture are used very frequently. Through the alteration and repetition of stories traditions and culture are preserved. That is a different way of living comparing to literate cultures which hearing people live in. The deaf tend to communicate face to face as much as possible and that is considered polite and reliable to do so. Otherwise it would be considered rude and risky. What usually happens during the deaf communication is that people get the whole meaning by seeing one’s face. Facial expressions as a part of Sign Language give much information during conversations. Storytelling is a vital part of the Deaf culture. Deaf culture is transmitted through stories and the Deaf life is

While in literate cultures, knowledge is showed in a abstract way. Deaf people are good at describing something abstract into specific living things. Deaf people remain close to the living human life. Words are organized in the sense of how they function together rather than logic or categories. There is an example. When a researcher asked a deaf person to express to others that you go to a place where there is no car, the deaf people signed that “I 'll tell them that buses have four legs, chairs in front for people to sit on, a roof for shade and an engine. But when you get right down to it, I 'd say, ‘If you get in a car and go for a drive, you 'll find out’." (Luria, 1976, p.