Folklore of Blindness

Abstract

An individual's adaptation to the loss of sight is strongly influenced by the beliefs, superstitions, folklore, and mythology of both the individual and those with whom he or she comes in contact. This article uses both case examples and reports of such beliefs from archives and world literature to illustrate the broad range of connections between folklore and blindness. Clinicians can use their knowledge of such beliefs to help their clients through the process of adapting to the loss of vision.

Stereotyping as a barrier to the social participation of older adults with low vision: a qualitative focus group study

“…Within the context of family and friends, the onset of impairment gave rise to the perceived stereotype of being helpless, as described by the participants, specifically in the context of maintaining and performing social roles. This supports what we know from the research literature,43 63 whereby previous reports have highlighted the stereotype maintained in folklore writings that people with visual impairment are helpless 42. In the example of our participant who described her experience of feeling (and being perceived as) helpless in the context of kitchen work, this stereotype may be threatening her social role in one specific setting but may not exist in a different setting, depending on what the context may be.…”

“…Stigma is a social phenomenon that is greatly influenced by both historical and cultural forces 41. Present-day stereotypes attributed to people with any level of vision loss date back to prejudicial attitudes held against people who were considered blind in Ancient Greek societies 42 43. We now live in a society that relies on traditional communication, such as vocalised speech and eye contact (which is often difficult or unknown to individuals with partial or complete vision loss), whereby stereotypes are housed and maintained within language 44.…”

Castrating Depictions of Visual Impairment: The Literary Backdrop to Eugenics

“…Indeed, judging by the findings of Blank (1957), Dodds (1993), O'Farrell (1999), and Wagner-Lampl and Oliver (1994, some people feel castrated as a result of their visual impairment, from which it follows that unimpaired vision is a sufficient condition of sexual empowerment. Although this evocation of eugenics is, in itself, irrational, it is given currency through literary representation, a critical awareness of which is beneficial not only to people who are visually impaired, but to the professionals with whom they are associated.…”

Auditory Working Memory Capacity in Congenitally Blind Children: Comparative Study with Normal

“…Conventional traditions found that blind individuals overcome few difficulties associated with their condition by developing unusual sensory and cognitive capacities [2]. In support to these traditions, recent studies have also found that congenital blind individuals perform superior to normal sighted individuals in various cognitive and perceptual skills like short term memory [3][4][5][6], long term memory [7], speech perception [1,8,9] and auditory frequency discrimination [10].…”