Deaf and hard-of-hearing musicians: Crafting a narrative strategy

Abstract

The topic of deafness has been studied in the field of music education; however, this work largely reflects hearing world perspectives. The author of this study, a music educator who identifies as hard-of-hearing, draws upon Deaf cultural discourses as a way of bringing a more nuanced understanding to this topic. The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, the researcher works to develop a cohesive poststructural narrative approach that makes use of Foucault’s theorizing about power. Then, the researcher applies this “crafted” narrative strategy to examine the public music making of a particular Deaf Finnish musician.