The Cry of the Gull - Softcover

Laborit, Emmanuelle

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1563680866 ISBN 13: 9781563680861

Publisher: Gallaudet University Press, 1999

Synopsis

Emmanuelle Laborit begins her autobiography The Cry of the Gull with a simple explanation of how sign language changed her life: "With the help of sign language, I understood that yesterday was behind me, and tomorrow was in front of me." She learned this at the age of seven, and soon after, she realized that being deaf could be a positive part of her identity.
After a lengthy period of trouble in class and at home, she determined to finish school and fight for the rights of other deaf French people. She also took up acting, leading to her ultimate triumph as Sarah in the French production of Children of a Lesser God. She was the first deaf French actor to win the Moliere Award in the category of best new talent. Her book The Cry of the Gull is both a revealing and encouraging story for young people everywhere.

About this title

From the Publisher

BOOKLIST review
From BOOKLIST: An accomplished deaf actress tells about growing up with hearing parents and trying to learn language according to the oral method. Until she was seven years old, Emmanuelle Laborit had never been exposed to sign language, and it truly changed her life. Although her mother, a schoolteacher, established earlier a gestural means of communication with her daughter, it was Laborit's father who investigated sign. Her parents and younger sister provided a background where relationships with the hearing and the deaf became important to her. The young French woman was then motivated to write this fascinating book, which gives intimate details of her adolescent rebellion and later determination to succeed. Most of the time the reader is deep in the mind of the author, who has been helped here by a translator (from French to English) and an interpreter who sometimes transcribed her signs. This memorable book, by the star of the French production of Children of a Lesser God, will appeal to the deaf community, to hearing parents of deaf children, and to students of communication.--Nancy McCray

Edition details

• Publisher: Gallaudet University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1563680866
• ISBN 13: 9781563680861
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 168