Mother Father Deaf: Living Between Sound and Silence [Paperback]

Paul Preston (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674587480 | ISBN-13: 978-0674587489 | Publication Date: July 21, 1998

"Mother father deaf" is the phrase commonly used within the Deaf community to refer to hearing children of deaf parents. These children grow up between two cultures, the Hearing and the Deaf, forever balancing the worlds of sound and silence. Paul Preston, one of these children, takes us to the place where Deaf and Hearing cultures meet, where families like his own embody the conflicts and resolutions of two often opposing world views. Based on 150 interviews with adult hearing children of deaf parents throughout the United States, Mother Father Deaf examines the process of assimilation and cultural affiliation among a population whose lives incorporate the paradox of being culturally "Deaf" yet functionally hearing. It is rich in anecdote and analysis, remarkable for its insights into a family life normally closed to outsiders.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Preston, an anthropologist, meshes scholarship with family history in this exploration of the impact of deaf parents upon their hearing offspring. Deaf parents with hearing children have been studied before, but typically by those not themselves part of such a family situation, according to Preston, and sometimes with chips on their shoulders: they seek evidence that the hearing generation could have been damaged. Preston has sought out the true impact of such parenting upon children, whether good or bad. Through stories, family histories, and sensitive questioning, Preston reveals what it feels like to stand astride the two cultural communities and offers new insights into the world of deafness. Denise Perry Donavin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Preston's findings are both interesting and important...[His] thoughtful and lucid account raises as many questions as it answers, and thus makes a significant contribution to the small but growing literature on deaf culture in particular and disability studies in general.
--Nora Ellen Groce (Medical Anthropology Quarterly )

There is much more to the difference between being deaf and hearing than simply whether one hears or not. The two worlds are separate and different. Paul Preston offers us a unique view of those differences through his anthropological study of people who exist in both cultures, the hearing children of deaf parents...This book is informative and inviting...[Preston] provides a useful source of information for understanding the interactions between the hearing and deaf worlds.
--Charles V. Anderson (Contemporary Psychology )

Through stories, family histories, and sensitive questioning, Preston reveals what it feels like to stand astride the two cultural communities and offers new insights into the world of deafness. (Booklist )

I have no doubt that Preston's work is now the major study on this topic and will be so regarded by researchers in deafness and anyone interested in the study of culture and its transmission through the family... Preston's interviews will lay to rest many of the stereotypes and myths that exist in both the media and the literature of deafness.
--John S. Schuchman, Gallaudet University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (July 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674587480
• ISBN-13: 978-0674587489
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, informative and unbiased., March 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mother Father Deaf: Living Between Sound and Silence (Hardcover)

As another native signer, I was quite pleased with Preston's book for it's well-roundedness. Preston does not seem to have a particular agenda he is trying to extoll. The variety of voices in this book show that people perceive similar circumstances differently. A much needed book!

5.0 out of 5 stars a deaf reader, June 2, 2007

By 

Christy B. (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother Father Deaf: Living Between Sound and Silence (Paperback)

Before reading this book, I knew that we should let CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) children be children. I have always been curious about CODA's point of view. I did learn few things and was surprised by couple of things. Thanks, Paul, for satisfying my curiosity.