Jaume Clotet Fabrés
without the typical "and" between the last names
which is an unnecessary Spanish tradition
which linguist Moreu-Rey explained
who is a simple person,
quiet,
always in the shadow of his father Anton Maria Claret.
He never had any enemies,
one simply could not be angry at him
because he was a good man. It was impossible.
He was a non-anecdotal figure in the history of the deaf community
and in his pedagogical contributions
in regards to sign lanuage.
He really understood that the way
to teach deaf people needed to be visual.
Learning the language
as one would learn that of another country.
He published 3 books
which explain how
how Catalan sign language was used in the XIX century.
He really looks at the structure
and that was very advanced for his time.
CLOTET. LOGOS IN THE HANDS
The language of deaf signing
people in Catalonia
is Catalan sign language or CSL.
Just like in Catalan, CSL has had
moments of persecution and danger
and moments of recognition and growth.
These historical moments
of our language
have featured
some important people
who have taught, cared for and shared the language.
Fray Ponce de León and Juan Pablo Bonet
have monuments in Barcelona
but we also recognize the names of some pioneers
in the education of deaf people
such as Abat L’Epée, Sicard or Gallaudet.
But the pioneers from our land
and of our language
are lesser known.
BIOGRAPHICAL TRAITS OF A PIONEER
And among these names, one name stands out significantly
Jaume Clotet.
He was a co-founder of the order
and was a pioneer in more than one way
in relation to our language:
he created compilation of signs, a dictionary.
He is the author of the first grammar
and the first published work
translated into sign language.
He also taught his deaf students
using sign language.
His work is a testimony to the XIX century,
which today are of great linguistic and historic value
for our community
and they help us to better understand
where we come from and where we are headed.
Jaume Clotet
was born in Manresa
on July 24 in 1822.
Son of Ramon Clotet
and Gertrudis Fabrés
He was the youngest of 8 siblings.
his father found success
with a dry cleaning business.
Clotet from childhood, manifested religious vocation
when he was 9 years old,
He began studies at the latin grammar school in Manresa.
Four years later
he continued his training in Barcelona
studying Rhetoric and Philosophy at a school
associated with the University of Barcelona.
In 1835 he entered the seminary in Barcelona
to begin his theology studies
which he continued at Vic Seminary two years later,
until he became
ordained a priest in Rome.
with a very different kind of students.
The seminarians, the future priests
were social elites.
Well known people such as
Claret, Balmes, Verdaguer,
Collell or Casaldàliga.
Of all these illustrious Catalans
for those of us who are deaf
a bright light shines on
the honorable Clotet,
who educated the deaf
in their own language.
He returned to Vic from Rome
where he was sent
to the town of Castellfollit
as a priest
for a year and a half,
after which
he was sent
to Civit.
A small town
with just 12 houses
and 50 residents.
And in that town
something strange and
providential happened:
when Clotet was at home
a father knocked at the door
accompanied by his deaf son
asking for a favor
if his boy could confess and if the priest could give him communion.
Surprised he said
clearly and simply,
as he was known for,
I cannot communicate with him
I don't know how to communicate with the deaf.
The father calmed him
and said, you will see I understand him well.
There are documents from that era
that refer to Civit as
"the cradle of the deaf".
Possibly because there were families there with deaf family members.
It seemed they lived alongside
the hearing
who also communicated with the deaf using signs
and Clotet witnessed this signed communication in the church.
In the beginning Clotet doubted
that father's ability to communicate
with his deaf son.
And asked for a demonstration which the father gave
and he was convinced.
He was very impressed.
During the father's conversation with his son in front of him,
he saw how the son understood important things.
He was impressed.
And said:
I want to learn, I am interested in this.
It matches my personality,
my way of being.
An affable man,
a humble man, in the most noblest of ways.
And then this restlessness began
which he never lost.
It is admirable!
A simple peasant
who could communicate perfectly
with his deaf son.
Could we priests, Christians,
communicate the gospel to deaf people
in this sign language?
"If an illiterate country man
can sign perfectly,
why can't I do it
if someone teaches me?
Barcelona had
had 3 schools for the deaf that started at the begining of the XIX century.
The first two had
just one teacher.
The teacher at the first school was Jean Albert
who arrived from France
which characterized the French Revolution.
He knew the French method
so he founded the first Municipal School for the Deaf of Barcelona
in a space provided by the city hall.
It didn't last long.
Now we are in the year 1880.
Previously, Salvador Vieta, a priest associated
the Barcelona Cathedral
created the second school
using the oralism method.
without continuity and the War of Independence
the year in which a third school was opened,
The headmaster was Manuel Estrada
and his collaborators were
Francesc de Paula Simon
and Esteve Casademunt.
Around these pioneers
a signing community gathered
which developed and grew
and which Clotet joined
thanks to mediation by Esteve Casademunt,
who collaborated with the Academy for the Deaf,
deaf community confessor
and was Clotet's teacher.
This square
is related to
a well known tragic event
during a Civil War bombing
in which 42 children died.
But this square is also important
for our history of
our little language,
Catalan sign language.
In the church behind me,
the oratory of Saint Felipe Neri
we know that in the middle of the XIX century
there was a priest
who received the confessions of the deaf of Barcelona
and his name was Esteve Casademunt.
He had worked with
one of the teachers
at the Municipal School of Barcelona,
Manuel Tomás Estrada.
And to this square
we also know of
another important person
for our history
who came here,
the Claretian Jaume Clotet.
He arrived by coincidence in the year 1850
to the city.
In 1850 father Clotet
needed an operation on his leg.
Possibly, we who were missionaries and
did the itinerant apostate,
Possibly, but this would have to be verified
it could have been because of the walks.
Due to the operation it could have been because of the walks.
Due to the operation
he was on bed rest for 3 weeks
at Saint Felipe Neri church.
And he became interested in
that priest
and the confessions he did with deaf people.
So he started to teach him
and brought him deaf people
that while he was recovering
began to teach him sign language.
And he said: of course this is very difficult for me.
Then the priest from Saint Felipe Neri
said: with practice
you will learn. Like all the sciences and arts
that you learn through practice.
With patience.
And eventually he got the hang of it.
Clotet learned sign language
thanks to Casademunt
but not just thanks to him but also due to linguistic immersion
through his contact with the deaf people
Casademunt introduced him to.
After that, Clotet returned to Vic,
where he started catechism work
and pastoral care with deaf people
which continued until 1897,
in other words, a long time, for 47 years.
The XIX century had a multitude
of social revolutions and wars,
clashes between liberals and conservatives
that came to compromise Clotet.
In 1868 the Revolutionary Junta
that Clotet ran.
with humility
and without servility,
earning the respect of the revolutionaries.
They had to go into exile
until the situation in Catalonia
calmed down and they could return.
Clotet left a good impression
with the revolutionaries
who ended up recognizing
In addition, Clotet
between the years 1849 and 1858
through various towns
accepting confessions and holding mass
and giving communion.
A broad and radical experience
which allowed him
to listen, speak to and live with all kinds of people,
conservatives and liberals alike.
helped him to integrate
within the deaf community.
he spoke Catalan, Spanish, Italian,
French, Latin....
So he knew that languages serve to express thought,
which influenced his understanding
of the deaf community
as a community that was using their own language
and naturally it helped them to think.
A language through which
he could transmit his faith
so long as he was competent in the language first.
And that is what he did.
Today we know
that sign language
is valid for teaching
but in the era of Clotet
that did not occur,
it was though of as a lesser language
so from his point of view
it was new and revolutionary.
Whenever I have seen for the first time
a deaf person
a feeling of compassion has been excited in me.
It is a very important word, in Greek it is
Splanchnizomai
which means four things:
It is like a way to get
closer to those in need.
Not by statistics,
In second place we have empathy.
It is not simply looking at them from above
but rather as an equal
then, you are aware of what they are going through.
Third, it mobilizes you,
and you do something for the other
then Clotet organized what was in his hand:
go to them, welcome them, provide them with an education
along with social assistance.
Which he also did
as written in the testimonies of Positio
there are examples
of how he included the deaf in society
And fourth
involve others.
To me, it seems like
this is a modern tactic.
He was in other categories
and in other theological paradigms,
because a lot of things happened afterwards
but certainly the core is there
and it affects us.
At the beginning of Clotet's book
he explains "the qualities that one who
works with the deaf and dumb must have".
At that time time the word
"deaf and dumb" was still used even if it was incorrect.
He said:
"Working with the deaf and dumb requires:
agility and practice."
These are the qualities
that one must posess
and that Clotet practiced
over 47 years.
Just as there are missionaries
that prepare themselves by studying languages
to go to far away places
to share the word of God
missionaries are also needed
who study sign language
Clotet as a speaker of a marginalized language
thought of as a "dialect"
and forbidden in school just like Catalan
was probably very conscious
of what those who spoke
an undervalued language experienced
cornered,
Naturally the reaction was one of surprise and gratitude
because of this.
Therefore, he was aware
that the way to heart of the signing people
was to speak the way that they spoke.
For us missionaries
the first thing that is demanded of us
when we visit abroad, is to learn the language.
It was a language that had to be learned.
Learning a language is not just learning a letter
but rather a way of understanding life.
This is where he came in.
Logically, when
when one enters that environment
communication, identification
and affection, everything is unleashed.
Among the different hearing adults
that have contact with a deaf child
there are the ones who get close
to give him a prosthesis
and there are others who get close
to rehabilitate him and teach him to speak orally
and there are even those
who want to medically cure him.
These encounters affect the child's self-esteem
Am I sick? Am I broken? Don't I know how to talk?
In contrast to these kinds of encounters
there are encounters with a few adults
who get close to him and respect him as a person
belonging to a linguist minority and approach him to learn from him.
Then the self-esteem of the child improves.
Few in our surrounding have this attitude.
And Clotet in this sense was a reference
for future generations, for his respect
towards the linguist identity of our community.
In Clotet's books
we see a clear and simple way
of teaching deaf children.
In addition, the instructions they contain for catechists
are methodological and meticulous.
From his pedagogy
three aspects should be highlighted
that are rather modern:
first; consider the deaf person
to be fully capable
and competent in their language.
Therefore, learning their language is a must
before adopting the role of teacher.
Second,
articulate the lessons
through questions
and answers
in a dialogue.
So then, when the teacher gets an answer
they also learn from the student.
And third:
use visual supports for teaching
such as drawings and prints
of Saint Antoni Maria Claret himself.
The activities with the deaf were done here.
What's left of it because it was destroyed during the Civil War,
there are some columns from the old house here.
They were left behind and there are no longer intact
they are rather deteriorated but they are in the garden.
We are in the house of the Claretians
located in the historic center of Vic.
Look carefully at these arches
I will tell you something about them.
Originally these arches
were not located here
but in the cloister of the old convent of La Mercé
which was destroyed in the Civil War.
There are only these fragments left, which they recovered.
In the convent of La Mercé,
Clotet offered the catechism
for deaf children.
For many years
An activity that favored the development
of sign language.
THE THREE BOOKS OF CLOTET Three times a pioneer: the first grammar, the first translation and the first CSL dictionary
The first work that Jaume Clotet published
about Catalan sign language
was a little book published in the city of Vic.
A book that is just 68 pages long
with a very eloquent title,
that was very evident.
It was titled:
"The communication of thought
through natural signs, that is, rules to understand
and be understood by the deaf and dumb."
In the title he is giving
us many clues
and a lot of evidence
that he had
perfectly understood
what communicating through
gestures with deaf people was about.
The book offers a classification
of different kinds of deafness
nothing misguided.
And it contains revolutionary affirmations.
His goal might have been
to get deaf kids to be Christians
written by an author who isn't a linguist
He knows the language well
from which he dedicated himself to extract
the grammatical structures
a century before Stokoe's publications.
Clotet was a pioneer
in grammatical description.
A pioneer not just for the work he did at the time
but for how he did it.
All the early works
are focused on lexical signs.
But he went one step more
and offered a grammatical description
of all the elements of the grammar
that a language has
whether it is signed or oral.
That is why I say he was a pioneer in that sense
because he includes a grammatical description
which is profound.
How the signs and gestures are
how the phrases and syntax work
and as he said:
the communication of the thoughts of deaf people.
He talks about names
about abstract concepts
of the personal sign
of course not with those words.
The labels came later.
Those who use sign language
have two names:
their given name from their parents
and their personal sign
given to them by the deaf community
which is inspired
by personal characteristics,
hobbies, or relevant interests.
So, DALÍ
has this sign
referring to his characteristic mustache
and GAUDÍ which combines the sign for the Sagrada Familia
with the sign for beard.
This is CLOTET, his personal sign.
But we know from his testimony in the book
"The communication of thought"
that the deaf called him
"Confessor" ( the priest who absolves).
He spoke about pronouns,
about verbs
and how they were constructed.
and the superlatives.
It is a level of grammatical description
that was very profound for that time
in which so little was known.
Because Clotet was not a historian
In his description
he doesn't just include what was done with the hands
but also included the non-manual components.
He speaks directly about
the movement of the head, the torso,
which is an aspect that is very current
and he was talking about it way back then.
When we are talking about discursive referents
like you, look at you
or non-present entity
such as Juan, for example
and I look over there.
The act of looking over there
to that area of space
and he indirectly tell you that.
It is very advanced.
It was a very suitable succes.
Incorporating the the non-manual elements
in the grammatical description
and not only focusing on the hands
which is much more basic.
He, in this
moment said it.
Clotet often said
that many times to talk about things
we use definitions or explanations
to express a concept.
Totally right!
Today we call this
In other words, 3 signs
For example,
the volcanic rock,
the concept of basalt.
How do we express that in sign language?
With 3 signs: ROCK+BLACK+VOLCANO
and this,
this group of three signs
we call it syntagmatic
which is lexicalizing
and means basalt.
That is what today
we now call syntagmatic periphrasis
which is lexicalizes.
Clotet at that time
was already describing
how to "use definitions
or explanations" of the term we want to express.
And it is very interesting
because in the area of sign language
in specific area
it is a strategy that is used a lot:
use two or three signs
to express a concept.
To refer to a painting
with your index finger you make the shape
of what you want to express.
and he conceptualizes it.
Today we could ask ourselves
if a classifier is a good label or not,
there is discussion about this.
But in that moment he,
was already talking about classifiers.
His second book,
is different than similar works
that were published in the XIX century
due to four characteristics
which make it unique.
First: it includes illustrations from Claret.
Second: it offers a summary of the grammatical rules
inferred from sign language
described in his previous work.
Third: it facilitates translation from Spanish
to the sign language structure for catechism.
With the aim being that the catechists
could follow instruction to teach.
In other words, a book written
with instructions to be signed.
Fourth: it describes 247 signs.
There is a previous book
which is very similar, titled
"A short history of Christian doctrine
to teach the deaf and dumb"
by Francesc de Paula Simon.
It is also a translation of catechism
to the structure of sign language.
In addition, it has the description of 308 signs.
The manuscript dated 1821,
was never published.
However, it is still a clear testimony
of the existence of a signing community
in Catalan churches where they signed
and in the school of Barcelona where they also signed.
The school was run by Manuel Estrada
who taught Francesc de Paula
who at the time left Casademunt
who, Clotet was also a disciple of
as many more where later on.
In his book, in his catechism
that he prepared, it really
caught my attention, that the catechism
was the question-answer style.
The art of the question.
Asking questions is a non-violent way
to enter into communication with another
waiting for an answer.
The art of the question.
There is an Egyptian author
Naguib Mahfouz, that won the Nobel prize in 1988,
who has a colossal phrase.
He says: "A smart man, is known
for the answers he gives.
A wise man,
for the questions he asks."
The art of asking questions,
questions that lead to the awakening
of curiosity
and to leave their closed world
and open up, that is an art.
He used questions
as a base to ask questions.
Logically, the question that is asked of the other,
has to be re-elaborated inside
and returned.
Because normally when someone is taken in
and there is assimilation
of something, when it is time to return
the question not only does it convert
the one asking but also the receiver,
if not the process
that is elaborated inside to return it
changes the other speaker.
There is a philosopher that died not long ago,
Maturana, from Chile, that has a phrase I like.
"All conversations are a conversion."
Rediscover that the mission
that we have in the church today, is very clear,
it is not to indoctrinate, but rather to converse.
Therefore, a methodology
based in dialogue
es very modern!
It is a dialogue with the other.
It is not a mental imposition
or indoctrination.
No it is not.
It is a back and forth, a dialogue,
in which both the speaker and the other
both go through a process of modification.
And in 1890,
he published a third book
that was also very important.
Which is a re-edition of the previous two.
"Communication" and "Catechism"
in which he reviewed and added
a third part,
which is a dictionary
with more than 300 words,
which describe how to
sign in Catalan sign language.
Therefore, it is the first dictionary
that we have documented
Catalan sign language.
Furthermore, we owe Clotet
for the first description of Catalan sign language,
with his work from 1866
and we also owe him
for his work published in 1890
with the first term that we know
of for Catalan sign language.
It was published in a scientific magazine from Barcelona
and after, independently, in Vic.
Later, he added a supplement.
It was reprinted
two times in the year of publication,
and was well received
by society and by experts of the era.
co-founder of the order,
and his work about the deaf,
was edited entirely in Vic.
Of the three books he published,
about the deaf
the last two were printed here
in Anglada book shop.
The last one included a compilation of 300 signs.
Thanks to these descriptions we know
that the sign for SQUARE was different than the current
sign and looking at it, we can understand why.
COMPARISON. SIGNS FROM THE XIX and XXI CENTURY
This video consists
in Simona Segimon creating
some of the signs that Clotet described
that have shown up here and there
in different works
and of the vocabulary
that is in his last work,
"The catechism of the deaf" from 1890
and she simply put them into practice.
For example: the sign WATER
is made by acting as if your were raising a bucket
full of water from a well.
She makes the sign,
so that it can be seen.
On the other hand, we can also see
the same sign, but how it is made today.
Now we will see some examples.
FATHER
NIGHT
DAY
AFTERNOON
SON
FIRE
The conclusion of this comparative
reaffirms the hypothesis that I have had
since I started to work on this.
I mean, on one hand,
we have signs
which have stopped being used.
And, therefore, we can dust them off
and appreciate them as relics.
On the other hand, therefore,
we have others that haven't changed
hardly at all in the way we currently use them
and that allows us to understand the relation they have
these current sign with their meaning
with their significance.
This offers us the great possibility
to complete diachronic studies
about how the language has evolved over the years.
Diachronic studies are hard to do with sign language
there are difficult due to lack of documentation.
Today we have many audiovisual documents.
But there is no written documentation
and even less filmed,
about how sign language was in the past.
This opens many doors!
It opens a wide variety of possibilities
to complete diachronic studies.
In the well known book by professor Hervás
he recommended that to teach deaf children about invisible things
we start with concrete, visible objects
and through these things
we can arrive to the abstract concepts.
Clotet follows this advice.
That is why the sign for TOMORROW in sign language from XIX century is "trousers";
to refer to a moment in the day
a sign was used that associated with an object
which was the first thing that is put on in the morning.
This sign has been lost over the years.
However, the sign AFTERNOON
is the same as from that era.
The sign AFTERNOON comes
from cleaning your mouth with a napkin
after eating,
which is when the afternoon begins.
The sign for FATHER
consists in the action of taking of a hat
and then kissing a hand.
To see the relation with current sign
we should look at the points of contact
which are the same.
In other words, the forehead and the chin.
That is to start with.
In second place,
if you notice that to give a kiss on the hand
the configuration of the hand
is exactly the same.
Simply, the orientation of the hand
changes.
The act of taking of a hat,
here, must have, surely,
been an intermediate step
that we aren't familiar with
because we do not have the documentation.
At least at the moment.
I think that this
in some moments
was substituted
by the forehead part
representing the brim of the hat.
And to simplify,
they ended up not turning the hand,
we simply lower it and that is it.
THE ARRIVAL OF CLOTET
Clotet spread and gave prestige
to sign language with his publications.
He shared his catechism method
to the teachers Roque Aubert and Velentí Morlà
who continued
his work with the deaf children of Vic
once Clotet retired
to the Claretiana house
in the neighborhood of Gracia.
In his book "The Catechist"
which had several editions
and copies were distributed
to Spanish cities,
but they also arrived to Chile,
where the sisters of Buen Pastor
used them to teach young deaf girls.
Mexico was the first country
that the Claretian missionaries arrived to.
In 1905 father Camilo Torrent
was in charge of the teaching and attention to deaf people,
following the example of the order's founder.
As a result, the Saint Hipólito temple,
a church run by the Claretians,
became a place of worship
and a meeting place for the Catholic signing community.
Years later, in an annex of the temple, they founded
some workshops to teach deaf people trades.
The person in charge of the workshops
was the Claretian
who had this personal sign
Rosendo Olleta.
This initiative with passing of the years
developed until
father Ángel Alegre in the 80s
founded the primary school
named after Rosendo Olleta.
In 1999 this institution
grew and decided to start covering
both primary and secondary education
changing the name to the Clotet Center,
in honour of Jaume Clotet.
The Clotet Center covers all the educational stages
with the vehicular language
being Mexican sign language.
The teachers are all signing deaf.
When investigating their history
and looking at the community website
we were surprised by the phrase
"It all started with a boy in the land of the Catalans"
which reminds us
about Civit experience.
We should look to Clotet
as a figure who is close to us,
but also as a figure
who is international.
Because the Claretians are an order
that existed in the whole world.
And it is paradoxical
to see that in Mexico
there is an educational center for deaf people
which is called Clotet,
the Clotet Center
and in exchange, here in Catalonia, we don't have anything like that.
A memory, a denomination,
in an emblematic place for the deaf community
that carries this name.
THE LEGACY OF CLOTET (AND MANY OTHERS) IN DANGER
We need more data to determine the exact
moment in which the current CSL was born.
But what we do know
is where is happened and who the protagonists of its creation were.
The creators were deaf people
through community use
communicating in a natural manner among themselves.
It is also true that some hearing people
made essential contributions
and added to the development of the language
such as Esteve Casademunt,
Frencesc de Paula,
Jaume Clotet and many others.
And the place of development was in the churches,
the schools, and the meeting places associated with these places
and already in the XX century after the establishment
of association for deaf people.
We could say that CSL
has 4 areas that have contributed
to its evolution:
social relationships
within the deaf community;
the religious environment such as that promoted by Clotet
and the education.
If we review the status of these environments
we can affirm that in the social environment
CSL has been maintained:
we go out and see that we there is a social life in CSL.
In regards to the religious environment we have the Pastoral
and signing congregations of other creeds.
I had never considered
that people exist
Catholics, of Catholic faith,
that needed the sacraments,
the word of God, etc.
And I am very interested in this.
Sign language
I learned it
by participating in the Eucharist
and also in the different activities
that were down here in the pastoral.
Regarding the associative environment,
during the XX century many were created that are still going
but the environment that is worrying is education.
What catches my attention
from Clotet's work
are three environments.
He clearly touches upon three environments
in which their evolution
has been the same.
We have the most religious environment
which continues today,
we have the Bible in Catalan sign language.
Thanks God, more than 10 years ago
we are doing some beautiful work
and interesting
which is the translation of the word of God: the Bible.
It is ecumenical work,
in other words, the unity of Christians,
Catholics and Evangelicals, Protestants,
that the word of God is the same
and working on a translation
in sign language, that will be reviewed,
that can be published through
video images showing sign language.
It can be a real person
or a virtual person,
it is intelligent work
that we are working on slowly.
It is a way,
just like father Clotet's interest
of making the word of God,
which is the greatest treasure we have
arrive to all our brothers
including the deaf people.
In the beginning there was already the Word
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
Thanks to God,
different dioceses were created in Spain
and the world, thanks to God,
priests that cared about
the world of the deaf.
but also the deaf themselves
have become priests.
We have the linguistic environment
Today we have many linguists,
lots of grammar and many studies
about Catalan sign language.
There are constantly more works of reference
but for example, I have equated
of grammatical pioneers
with Basic Grammar
which was published in 2005
from the Federation of the Dead of Catalonia
and the general linguistic department from the UB
with a team of expert deaf people and with linguists
And in that moment in 2005
a CD-ROM was edited.
But since 2012 is has been on the internet
on the CSL portal
which is run by the IEC the Institute for Catalan Studies.
There there is a base of new bibliographic data
with the current state of investigation by the CSL.
There is a list that any person can access.
Fruit of a European project
which was completed in recent years called Sign Hub
which was developed in different European universities,
it is a very big project and they have done different things
and one of them is a grammatical description
of the different sign languages.
A deeper grammatical description
than what we have here, which is more basic.
But, in exchange, we have another area
which is the pedagogical area.
In the XIX century Mr. Clotet
saw the importance
of teaching deaf people
in a visual way.
He did so with signs and images
and with this he could teach them.
In this environment
we have not had the same luck.
The merit that there is
in learning in sign language.
Think that not even
between ecclesiastics who had frequent
contact with the deaf
that was not normal.
Now I am thinking about Julio Tarra
who was the director of the school of the deaf in Milan
and president of the famous
celebrated in his city.
So he made
some declarations saying
that "we"
"we consider
that any language
that some say should be forbidden
should be prohibited and substituted," saying
Well, through oral language.
I am not superstitious
but September 11 is not usually a good day...
Let's look at four examples:
we have the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers;
Another 9/11 fascists
carried out a coup in Chile.
On another 9/11 Catalonia lost
their privileges before the Bourbon...
associated with that day:
On September 11 in 1880, in the city of Milan,
the Second International Congress
of Deaf Teachers
announced their conclusions
reached exclusively by hearing teachers.
The deaf teachers did not have the right to vote
and in the educational environment
speaking was imposed
and the use of sign language was not permitted in the classroom.
The conclusions of the Congress in Milan in 1880
was to forbid the use of sign language
in the education of deaf children
and the imposition of the use of speech, which forced deaf children
to learn oral language in the total absence of sign language.
The prohibition was extender throughout all of Europe
until it reached Catalonia.
But Clotet did not doubt for a second
and continued to teach in sign language.
who recommended he not ignore the oralist movement.
But Clotet, politely responded
that the signing method worked, showing respect
for the linguistic identity of the deaf community.
Right now in Catalonia
according to data from the Educational Department of the Generalitat
we have 2200 deaf children and teens
from the ages of 0-3 to the age of post-secondary.
And of these 2200, only 7%
study in a bilingual education,
in other words, they study in Catalan sign language and in oral languages.
This is terrible news
if we think about it and value it
because everyting that Mr. Clotet
did
Where has it gone?
And so many other people who have been
on a pedagogical level
helping to advance the education of the deaf.
What happened to all of this? Where did it go?
We here in We Want to Sign and Listen,
the association that I run, we are finding that
in Catalonia, in our home,
we have many deaf children and youth
who have severe linguistic depravity
Linguistic depravity happens because
these kids,
in the first stages of their life,
from 0-6 years,
have not received an integral language input
of a complete language.
Then, what is happening?
We find that children and youth
that are either fully or partially bilingual
that do not dominate either language,
not Catalan sign language,
nor oral language.
Or they may not even be semi-bilingual,
but rather have such deprivation that
they have turned
into double disabled people.
And the reason is this,
they were never exposed to a complete language
during the most important stage of development,
which is from 0-6 years.
It is not understood.
It is ,
that such an imbalance exists between
all that we have talked about now,
how investigation has advanced
Clotet was a pioneer,
and since then sign language has been talked about
as a language with full rights,
for deaf children, for deaf adults.
How this has advanced,
there is so much psycho-linguistic investigation
about all the advantages that it gives
when sign language is given as a natural language,
in the first studies of the existence of a person
to be able to develop cognitively.
There is so much investigation about it.
And you look at the reality,
what happens in the schools, in education...
Deaf people
and deaf children in this case
are not sick people.
They are people with a different life condition.
And it is a linguistic subject.
It is not about disability,
or rehabilitation, it is about language.
Because they do not have deaf teachers
because the children
do not only have sign language,
rather because they have a model
to say: "I can be like this person."
Because their models are hearing,
with sign language...
without being disrespectful, it is a little poor.
The best example for a deaf person is a deaf person.
They do not have this deaf model,
they do not receive natural input
of their natural signing language,
they do not have sign language interpreters
in more advanced stages of education.
This imbalance
is incomprehensible
and reaches some indignant extremes.
Catalan sign language
is in grave danger of extinction.
Evidently we need to look at numbers,
We are in danger, yes.
Yes, yes because it is the future of our language.
It is clear that each time
there are less young people
who know sign language
and this puts the language in danger.
What will happen?
Even so, we try to find the positive,
it has been a mistreated language,
it has been a hidden language,
forbidden...
I mean that, despite everything that happened in the past,
there have always been signers that have endured.
Hopefully that continues.
But of course, if deaf children,
the deaf children of today
are not offered the language,
the future....
is not clear.
It is about language status. About status.
Of seeing sign language as inferior,
as a crutch, as a life vest.
It is a mistake,
because people need to dominate a language
to be people.
We should be able to think,
be able to anticipate,
to laugh,
make jokes,
understand abstract concepts,
without all of those things we have many shortages.
It is a problem
what we linguists stand for
is that is an equal language,
with the same structures and characteristics
and just as potent as any oral language.
And today it is just a crutch.
And it is not a crutch.
In its pedagogy
I have read that
it is not just about knowledge
of material objects,
but rather, let's call it this way,
invisible things.
Such as, for example, values.
I mean, good and bad.
It is a deep concept to understand.
And this is so important
because things are not
only what they appear to be.
There are things we cannot see
but they are just as real, if not more.
For example, time.
We cannot see time.
But it has a normal existence.
Father Clotet introduced these people
in the world to the invisible but the real.
Logically, it allows them to penetrate the world
of beauty, the real world
the world of goodness and more,
and certainly develops their personality from the inside.
upon who a series of doctrines is imposed
or a series of costumes.
Which also occurred, because of the time
but they transcended
that dimension.
THE DEATH OF CLOTET. FRIEND OF THE DEAF UNTIL THE END
On February 4, 1898, father Clotet,
whose vision and hearing had grown poor with age,
died at the Claretian house of Gracia
at age 76.
Clotet is remembered in the epitaph on his grave
in the church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
as "a friend of the deaf"
The Pastoral of the deaf and the order
honor his memory with a mass.
We are very happy
because we are remembering
Jaime Clotet.
Does your son really understand everything?
The deaf community remembers him for his pedagogical work,
for creating the first grammar
and the first dictionary of our language.
Outside of the community he is remembered
as the co-founder of the Claritans order;
of which he was the sub-director and director for decades
at the Mother House in Vic;
for writing the instructions
for the first missionaries;
for being together
with Saint Antoni Maria Claret
in his last days
and for writing the biography of the holy founder.
In the middle of all his work,
responsibilities, exiles and vicissitudes,
Clotet always found time
to help educate the deaf.
We even know that when he was very old
and was hard of hearing and sight, he interpreted
for a young deaf girl with difficulties.
After his retirement, he responded by letter questions from other catechists
who continued his pedagogical labor with the deaf
in a similar way, much as it is done today
in the groups for doubts about signs
on WhatsApp led by teachers and interpreters of CSL
of course, Clotet's answers by letter were a little slower
And we also know though letters recently found,
that he was working on a new dictionary that was never printed.
He, even if logically
his intentions were primarily
religious in nature,
to evangelize,
however,
when we look at his work,
which I have also seen,
was that he integrated it all.
Not just the question of
making sure they understood
what he was saying.
But rather he integrated them into society
with a trade.
This is Clotet's first merit:
being interesting in the language,
studying it and using it.
That is the first.
And evidently, that fact that, somehow
coherently, and simply, he explained
the functioning of this gestural speech
and made a description
of many signs.
He did not only focus on describing the signs
which are the equivalent of words,
but also a description of the structure of the language
which is the grammar
and this profoundness,
is very new.
To know that the church
in other words, somehow
his life is exemplary, it is good,
is a stimulus for people
who want to live as Christians
following the example that he gave us.
I really like
when Clotet spoke about the "art of the signs"
Because he spoke about the "Art of the signs"
he isn't just talking about a language,
but rather it is a very respectful attitude
and I think that is beautiful.
"The art of the signs."
And he also spoke
about the "communication of thought".
And that is very profound.
"The communication of thought"
That is, an approach to sign language
with the attitude of learning, of respect,
and that is beautiful.
Maybe someone can stay
with the aspect of paternalistic mentality,
which logically, is also there.
Even compassionate
towards deaf people,
as people
who did not have access to the word of God...
all of that is there.
But I think that his attitude
was very respectful.
And I will stick with that.
"The art of the signs" and "The communication of thought"
though the hands.
It is a beautiful thing, no?
I think so!
Logos is a Greek word
which means word, thought, intelligence,
When Christianity celebrates Christmas it celebrates God made human in Jesus,
This catechetical content was explained by Clotet
in sign language to his deaf students
that their thoughts materialized through their hands,
and, in another sense, the logos, thought, was also incarnated in the hands.
Intelligence, communication, learning
were developed though the hand of those that signed.
A development for which we must thank Clotet
and the signing community around him.
We feel proud and identify
with our signing community
which would not exist without those pioneer teachers and their deaf students
who together constructed
the foundations of what we are today.
Our community would not exist without those who came before us
To all those pioneers, we give our appreciation
and of all of them, nobody was like that humble catechist,
our father Jaume Clotet.