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Description
The aim of this study was to understand Deaf as agents who had the potential to diverge from the dominant discourse, such as suppression and helplessness, by exploring the negotiation processes between Deaf culture and hearing culture through the experiences of Deaf athletes. As a theoretical framework, the concept of cultural hybridity presented by Bhabha (1994) provided a basis for analysis and discussion. To collect and analyze the experiences of Deaf athletes narrative research methods were applied. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with 2 Deaf athletes and all interviews were recorded and transcribed for narrative analysis materials. The experience stories of the study participants were analyzed based on three-dimensional narrative inquiry spaces and four different directions of experience presented by Clandinin & Connelly (2000). The findings of the intersectionality of Deaf athletes with hearing and disability sport cultures reveal three characteristics: (1) Concealed merits in the hearing world, (2) Mechanisms of exclusion from the interest group, (3) Disability hierarchy pyramid in disability sport. It is important to note, however, that the dominant and vertical structure of disability sports did not colonize the identities of Deaf athletes. A hybrid identity and the resistance to forming an alternative culture were depicted as follows: (1) Athlete as an agent, (2) Distorted hegemony based on solidarity with others, (3) Possibility of diversity beyond meritocracy.
