Go ask Alisoun: Geoffrey Chaucer and Deafland (deafness as authority)

Abstract I would like to ask that scholars of medieval studies consider several factors in examining the relationship(s) between deafness, Deafland , and Geoffrey Chaucer—really consider what it means to be hearing disabled , to be deaf . The barrier between Chaucer scholars and the deaf is actually as simple as unawareness . This barrier might be understood in two ways: (1) as a wall between Chaucerians (both scholars and students) and Geoffrey Chaucer's text or (2) as a lack of full perspective, of complete comprehension, of that wall: its depth, its height, its volume, its density, and so forth. In other words, this barrier represents a difference in dimensions, as well as a difference between a priori appreciation and experiential understanding of the senses. To voice is not a measure of either vocalness or muteness of sounds. It is not a measure of one's ability or inability to speak. Voice is not measured in terms of sound at all. It is a measure of how fluent one is: is that individual fluent in a spoken language, fluent in a written language, fluent in a signed language? (Remember, in the Middle Ages, it was rather common for one to be fluent in one spoken language, such as Old Irish, and fluent in a specialized language, such as Latin—something not at all unfamiliar to those who are fluent in American Sign Language and written English today.) Chaucer's Wife of Bath's characterization makes for an interesting tie to members of Deafland (both those who do and do not sign) and to the uniqueness of visual–spatial perspectives contained within a predominately temporal–audio world, which has always given priority and privilege of sounded voice over signed voice (if the latter was permitted to exist at all). In the case of this complex character, this Wife of Bath, the likelihood of misunderstanding who she is, and what Chaucer intends us to see in her, is high. Alisoun seems to be a magic deaf person—in even some of the most unlikely of situations, such as from one end of a long line of pilgrims on horse—but actually, she is not . There is nothing magical about deafness, just as there is nothing magical about audism and other forms of discrimination. Abstract in ASL (online): https://globalchaucers.wordpress.com/recordings/