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Article

French

ID: <

10670/1.1c1hzw

>

Where these data come from
When Forms of Life Meet : Sign Language and Citizenship in France at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

International audience This article uses the notion of forms of life to examine the role assigned to language – spoken or signed – in the legal rights and empowerment of “deaf-mute” people in France at the turn of the nineteenth century. It sets out three case studies : the trial and acquittal of a deaf-mute pupil, an allegation made by a deaf-mute pupil, and a petition submitted by a deaf-mute teacher regarding the legal rights accorded to deaf-mute people by the Napoleonic Civic Code. A close reading of the material reveals the role of three linguistic functions – performative acts, grammatical construction, definition – in ascertaining a shared experience and understanding of language, that is, a common form of life. Attesting common access to and expectations of language, these functions were strategic in establishing “deaf-mute” people’s membership of society, their understanding of their duties as citizens, and the need to grant them full civil rights. I use the concept of forms of life to pinpoint the political dimension of linguistic expectations and the possibilities that may arise when these expectations are fulfilled.

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