Home, Physical Disability and Sense of Belonging in Nina Raine’s Tribes

Year 2023, Issue: 50, 43 - 56, 27.12.2023

Nurten Çelik

https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.1407706

Abstract

Home has traditionally been perceived as a location that provides control, freedom of self-expression, and psychological, social, and physical security. However, the presence and development of physical impairment subvert the positive aspects and conventional conceptions of home. Any corporeal attributes that challenge the culturally assumed views of the disabled body are rarely or never recognized as a part of domestic life. Home transforms into a site of oppression and discrimination as the denial of impairment in the sphere of the home leads to psychological and emotional disturbance and the distortion of a sense of belonging. One contemporary play that explores the complicated relationship between impairment, home, and culture is Nina Raine’s Tribes. Tribes dramatizes the ways in which the cultural understanding and treatment of disability shape and regulate the embodied experiences of the disabled character within the confines of home. Billy’s deafness is ignored by his family members, who do not acknowledge the existence of the deaf community, sign language, and deaf culture. Additionally, Billy experiences alienation and isolation in a family that wallows in miscommunication, disagreement, misunderstanding, and lovelessness. Therefore, this essay explores how the social norms concerning the disabled body operate to determine and govern the perception and validation of hearing impairment in a home setting by focusing on the emotional aspects of an embodied life. Furthermore, it explores how the pre-established notions of the body, hierarchy, and value create feelings of alienation and a lack of belonging.

Keywords

Hearing impairment, home, sense of belonging, Nina Raine, Tribes

Nina Raine’in Kabileler Oyununda Ev, Engellilik ve Aitlik Hissi

Abstract

Geleneksel olarak, ev kontrol, kendini ifade etme özgürlüğü ve psikolojik, sosyal ve fiziksel güvenlik sağlayan bir yer olarak algılanmıştır. Bununla birlikte, fiziksel engelliliğin varlığı ve gelişimi, evin olumlu yönlerini ve geleneksel kavramlarını alt üst eder. Engelli bedenin kültürel olarak algılanışına tezatlık oluşturan herhangi bir bedensel özellik, ev yaşamının bir parçası olarak ya nadiren kabul edilir ya da asla kabul edilmez. Evde engelliliğin tanınmaması psikolojik ve duygusal rahatsızlıklara ve aidiyet duygusunun bozulmasına yol açtığından, ev bir baskı ve ayrımcılık alanına dönüşmektedir. Engellilik, kültür ve ev arasındaki karmaşık ilişkiyi irdeleyen oyunlardan birisi Nina Raine’in Kabileler oyunudur. Kabileler, engelliliğin kültürel algılanışı ve engelliliğe yaklaşımın engelli karakterin deneyimlerini şekillendirme ve düzenleme yollarını dramatize eder. Billy’nin sağırlığı, sağır topluluğunun, işaret dilinin ve sağır kültürünün varlığını tanımayan ailesi tarafından göz ardı edilir. Ayrıca Billy, iletişimsizlik, anlaşmazlık, yanlış anlaşılma ve sevgisizlik içinde debelenen bir ailede yabancılaşma ve yalnızlık yaşar. Bu nedenle, bu makale, duygusal boyutlara değinerek, ev ortamında işitme engelliliğinin algılanması ve yaklaşımını belirlemek ve yönetmek için engelli bedenle ilgili sosyal normların nasıl işlediğini göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır. Ayrıca, bu makale, benimsenen beden, hiyerarşi ve değer kavramlarının nasıl yabancılaşma ve aitlik duygusu eksikliği yarattığını incelemektedir.

Keywords

İşitme engeli, ev, aitlik hissi, Nina Raine, Kabileler

References

• Baynton, D. (2006). “A silent exile on this earth”: the metaphorical construction of deafness in the nineteenth century. L. J. Davis (Ed), in the disability studies reader (pp. 33-48). New York and London: Routledge.
• Bat-Chava, Y. (2000). Diversity of deaf identities. American annals of the deaf, 145 (5), 420-428. https://www.jstor.org./stable/44393234.
• Brantley, B. (2012, 4 March). World of silence and not listening. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/theater/reviews/tribes-by-nina-raines-at-the-barrow-street-theater.html.
• Bratt, R. G. (2002). Housing and family well-being. Housing Studies, 17(1), 13-26. doi: 10.1080/02673030120105857.
• Cicognani, E. (2014). Psychological home and well-being. Rassegna di Psicologia, 2, 85-96. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269930525.
• Çelik, N. (2021). The Representations of disabled bodies in contemporary British drama. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Ankara University, Ankara.
• Després, C. (1991). The meaning of home: literature review and directions for future research and theoretical development. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 8(2), 96-115. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43029026.
• Ellis, B., Mullender, A., Bashall, R., Hague, G., & Thiara, R. (2012). Disabled women and domestic violence: responding to the experiences of survivors. London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
• Fox, L. (2002). The meaning of home: a chimerical concept or a legal challenge? Journal of Law and Society, 29(4), 580-610. doi:10.1111/1467-6478.00234.
• Gauvain, M. & Altman, I. (1982). A cross-cultural analysis of homes. Architecture & Comportement, 2, 27–46. https://www.epfl.ch/labs/lasur/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ GAUVAINandALTMAN.pdf.
• Gilman, C. P. (2002). The home: its work and influence. UK: AltaMira Press.
• Harrison, M. & Davis, C. (2001). Housing, social policy and difference: disability, ethnicity, gender and housing. UK: Policy Press.
• Imrie, R. (2004). Disability, embodiment and the meaning of the home. Housing Studies, 19(5), 745-763. doi: 10.1080/0267303042000249189.
• Kempe, A. (2013). Drama, disability and education. New York: Routledge.
• Lane, H. (1992). The mask of benevolence: disabling the deaf community. New York: Knopf.
• Lewin, F. A. (2001). The meaning of home among elderly immigrants: directions for future research and theoretical development. Housing Studies, 16(3), 353-370. doi: 10.1080/02673030120049715.
• Manzo, L. C. (2003). Beyond house and haven: toward a revisioning of emotional relationships with places. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23(1), 47-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(02)00074-9.
• Moore, J. (2007). Polarity or integration? towards a fuller understanding of home and homelessness. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 24(2), 143-159. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43030797.
• Morris, S. L. (2013, 14 March). Nina Raine’s play Tribes depicts a family that talks a lot but doesn’t Listen. LA Weekly. Retrieved from https://www.laweekly.com/nina-raines-play-tribes-depicts-a-family-that-talks-a-lot-but-doesnt-listen/.
• Nolan, E. I. (2014). Bicultural/bilingual/bimodal: deaf identity in Nina Raine’s Tribes. International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science, 2(4), 82-87.
• Obasi, C. (2008). Seeing the deaf in “deafness.” Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 13(4), 455-465. doi:10.1093/deafed/enn008.
• Oldman, C. & Beresford, B. (2000). Home, sick home: using the housing experiences of disabled children to suggest a new theoretical framework. Housing Studies, 15(3), 429-442. doi: 10.1080/02673030050009267.
• Ostrow, J. (2015, 20 October). “Tribes” Review: Nina Raine’s Moving Play Resonates in Denver. Denver Post. Retrieved from https://www.denverpost.com/2015/10/20/tribes-review-nina-raines-moving-play-resonates-in-denver/.
• Padden, C. (1999). Deaf. Journal of Linguistic of Anthropology, 9(1-2), 57-60. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43102426
• Raine, N. (2010, 22 September). Why I wrote Tribes. The Royal Court Theatre. Retrieved from https://royalcourttheatre.com/nina-raine-why-i-wrote-tribes/
• Raine, N. (2010). Tribes. London: Nick Hern Books.
• Sixsmith, J. (1986). The meaning of home: an exploratory study of environmental experience. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 6, 281-298. https://www.researchgate.net//publication/222074147
• Somerville, P. (1997). The social construction of home. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 14(3), 226-245. https: //www.jstor.org/stable/43030210
• Spirko, R. C. (2002). "Better me than you": children of a lesser God, deaf education, and paternalism. T. Fahy and K. King (Eds), in Peering Behind the Curtain: Disability, Illness, and the Extraordinary Body in Contemporary Theater (pp. 16-23). New York and London: Routledge.
• Thiara, R. K., Hague, G. & Mullender, A. (2011). Losing out on both counts: disabled women and domestic violence. Disability&Society, 26(6), 757-771.
• Young, I. M. (2005). House and home: feminist variations on a theme. S. Hardy and C. Wiedmer (Eds), in Motherhood and space: configurations of the maternal through politics, home and the body (115-147). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.