La surdité face à la pandémie. Un silence qui nous interroge tous

The socio-cultural history of deafness began in France in the mid-18th century. Charles-Michel L’Épée - a then unknown priest to whom in 1791 the Constituent Assembly granted the title of benefactor of humanity - accidentally met two deaf sisters. Surprisingly for the time, they were able to communicate through visio-gestural language. This was a far cry from the life usually led by the deaf. In fact, being deaf has always meant being considered “naturally” unfit for any linguistic and cognitive activity. Yet L'Épée understood that to deconstruct this prejudice, having access to instruction by sight could be the answer. As his unexpected meeting had shown him, the latter had "at hand" a language which they spontaneously mastered and which reversed any order of discourse concerning them. This is exactly what L’Épée achieved when he decided to “mould” the natural language of the deaf into a “methodical” system of signs and, ultimately, sign language. From then on we can see a change in attitude which has not been matched since. By gaining the right to their own words, the deaf can finally live as citizens. However, in the 19th century, the cultural history of deafness slowed down dramatically. There even came a time when it came to a complete halt. Indeed, following the famous Milan Congress of 1880, the use of sign language was banned from all schools for the deaf. In Italy as elsewhere, it took more than a century before sign language emerged from clandestinity into which this event had forced it. At the same time, it must be said that in a way we have never left the audism of which the Milan Congress was and still is the most explicit and defined expression. Traces of it remain at all levels of social and cultural life, notably in education and information policies. The period of the Covid-19 pandemic did not make any difference.