Occluded Readings & Deaf Culture

Occluded Reading: “The ideological argument about empowerment is couched within

what seems to be-at least at the surface-an oppositional argument.” (Sellnow, pg. 119) 

Occluded reading is an interesting idea and one that I found to be exciting to dive further into. In simple words, occluded reading is when a text or artifact contains a message that is a hidden reinforcement of power. I thought back to books and movies that I have consumed in the past year and my thoughts caught onto one in particular. It was an anime that I had watched over a year ago called “A Sign of Affection.” Going into this anime, the description was pretty vague, it wasn’t until I started watching it that the name made more sense. In this show, the main character, Yuki, is deaf. Thus why it is called “A Sign of Affection” implying the use of Sign Language. I thought it was weird that the creators did not put this large detail into the description but then I thought that maybe that would have turned viewers away because deaf culture is out of the ‘norm.’ That already is showing me that even though this show dives into the deaf community, they are already reinforcing the power and norm of society but not being up front in their description about their show. 

Going through the show, it is very fun to watch from the characters, to the plot, to the perspective. You learn a little bit about what it is like in the deaf community and how those individuals have to live at college. But as I thought back on the show, it seemed to reinforce the idea that deaf individuals will not be able to live in society in a ‘normal’ way. It shows Yuki falling in love with a boy, who gratefully is willing to learn sign language to speak to her. But Yuki goes on to change how she lives so that she can be with this boy and do things with him like travel. In the movie it is an exciting thing for Yuki because her life has been so sheltered and she wants to travel and be out in the world, but from this perspective of occluded readings, it has the underlying message that she had to break out of her deaf culture and join the “real world.” in a sense the writers are making her “normal” in society. It also shows that the white heterosexual boy is the one to help her and save her from her sheltered life which is also a way that they are reinforcing norms.

From what I have explained about this show, how do you think the

authors could have created a more Oppositional Reading with Yuki’s narrative?