EDUCAÇÃO E RESISTÊNCIA: UM ESTUDO ANTROPOLÓGICO SOBRE A COMUNIDADE SURDA DE SINOP - MT

Abstract

This research aims to understand, through anthropological mapping, the discourses and practices that are produced around deafness and deaf people by deaf people, their families and health and education professionals in the municipality of Sinop, in Mato Grosso. This study proposes a qualitative ethnographic approach based on the fields in which deaf people live, such as schools, health centers, churches and events attended by deaf and hearing people. My Deaf interlocutors identify themselves as "deaf people", regardless of their degree of hearing loss, unlike the classifications used in the health field. Deaf people are characterized by their identity as speakers of the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) and participants in the Association of the Deaf as a kind of community that houses not only Deaf people, but also their hearing family and friends and Libras Interpreter Translators (Tils). In practice, the concept of being "Deaf" is preceded by self-recognition and a sense of belonging to the Deaf community, as my interlocutors say. In general terms, from the Association of the Deaf of Sinop (Assinop), I present the interweaving of Deaf Culture, Community and Identity and what these concepts have to say about these individuals who live in a particular way that differs from the identity of listeners, who are speakers of oral languages. For my interlocutors, Assinop is their main point of reference and through it they fight for the valorization of their language, insertion into the job market, the search for greater accessibility in the health area, an inclusive and humanizing education, the promotion of Libras teaching courses for listeners and Deaf people, among other actions.