Libro

MEDIA LITERACY AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE
Strategies, Debates and Good Practices
its source, allowing the human being, or some animals, to take action. However,
not everyone is in full possession of such physical and physiological integrity,
as, for instance, the deaf and the blind.
Generally speaking, the deaf are deprived of one of the senses and that is why
they develop the remaining senses further. An example of compensation is the
blind that has a more attentive hearing sense than usual. As for the deaf, they
may have a more developed tactile sense. In fact, we subscribe to the
hypothesis that the deaf are more aware of sound vibrations because of their
lack of audio perception. The vibration sensation may be less perceived by the
hearing as their attention is usually shifted towards the auditory or audiovisual
message.
4.3. Hypothesis 3: vibration and image
Vibration is an important part of the motivation for the deaf to watch a movie.
The deaf perceive the relationship between vibration and image, establishing a
connection that is comparable to what the hearing do regarding sound and
image.
5. Methodology
According to a popular saying, experience is worth more than science. Indeed,
there has been an ongoing concern with confronting our empirical ideas with
deaf subjects, especially those with the highest level of auditory deficiency.
5.1. Experiment I
In our study of the perception of sound on audiovisual images by deaf
youngsters and its implications on the reading of the image, three deaf
participants watched the movieO menino, a favela e as tampas de panela 1 , by
Braziliandirector Cao Hamburguer (1995). The duration of the movie is 4
minutes and 25 seconds from the beginning until the end credits. The movie
was aired in parts, with and without sound. The projection was in an
auditorium chosen to discriminate the surrounding sounds, so that participants
could easily identify parts with and without sound. The investigation took place
in the auditorium of the Memorial Baptists Church in Brasília, Brazil. Our tools
were the observation of the reactions of the deaf as well as a 4-item
questionnaire. The participants answered the questions using sign language.
The names of the participants will not be disclosed, so we will identify them from
now on with their initials only: MA, JO, GE.
MA: 22 years old, profound bilateral deafness.
1 “The boy, the favela and the pot lids”, in a literal translation.
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