"Svá daufr orðinn, at hann mátti eigi heyra": a critical exploration of depictions of deaf and non-speaking characters in medieval Icelandic literature.

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Title: "Svá daufr orðinn, at hann mátti eigi heyra": a critical exploration of depictions of deaf and non-speaking characters in medieval Icelandic literature.
Authors: Hardonk, Stefan C1, Tirosh, Yoav1
Source: Journal of Deaf Studies & Deaf Education. Jul2025, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p384-395. 12p.
Subject Terms: *Culture, *Communities, *Multilingualism, *Communication, *Hearing, *Case studies, Deafness & psychology, Stereotypes, Icelanders, Linguistics, Social status, Social isolation
Geographic Terms: Iceland
Abstract: This article revisits the polarities of oralist and cultural-linguistic approaches to deaf identities through the perspective of the medieval Icelandic sagas, a product of mainly the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. Through a historically informed close reading of the Sagas of Early Icelanders corpus, 5 saga episodes were selected for further analysis with regard to the meaning of being deaf and/or non-speaking and intersections with other social categories like gender and class. This study suggests diverse ways in which being deaf and/or non-speaking was given meaning before the advent of oralism and the establishment of Deaf communities in Iceland, that is, as traits that lead to social exclusion as well as a part of the identities of individuals with considerable social status. An intersectional perspective shows male deaf characters exerting control over their lives and yielding political power, while deaf and non-speaking women are more portrayed as disenfranchised, regardless of their social class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Deaf Studies & Deaf Education is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: "Svá daufr orðinn, at hann mátti eigi heyra": a critical exploration of depictions of deaf and non-speaking characters in medieval Icelandic literature.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Deaf+Studies+%26+Deaf+Education%22">Journal of Deaf Studies & Deaf Education</searchLink>. Jul2025, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p384-395. 12p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Iceland%22">Iceland</searchLink>
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  Data: This article revisits the polarities of oralist and cultural-linguistic approaches to deaf identities through the perspective of the medieval Icelandic sagas, a product of mainly the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. Through a historically informed close reading of the Sagas of Early Icelanders corpus, 5 saga episodes were selected for further analysis with regard to the meaning of being deaf and/or non-speaking and intersections with other social categories like gender and class. This study suggests diverse ways in which being deaf and/or non-speaking was given meaning before the advent of oralism and the establishment of Deaf communities in Iceland, that is, as traits that lead to social exclusion as well as a part of the identities of individuals with considerable social status. An intersectional perspective shows male deaf characters exerting control over their lives and yielding political power, while deaf and non-speaking women are more portrayed as disenfranchised, regardless of their social class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Deaf Studies & Deaf Education is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=187125784
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1093/jdsade/enaf006
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 12
        StartPage: 384
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Culture
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Communities
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Multilingualism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Communication
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Hearing
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Case studies
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Deafness & psychology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Stereotypes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Icelanders
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Linguistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social status
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social isolation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Iceland
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: "Svá daufr orðinn, at hann mátti eigi heyra": a critical exploration of depictions of deaf and non-speaking characters in medieval Icelandic literature.
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            NameFull: Hardonk, Stefan C
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            NameFull: Tirosh, Yoav
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 07
              Text: Jul2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
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