COVID-19 pandemic in the eyes of deaf people: sign language translation in Italy

The current health crisis caused by COVID-19 requires collaboration on the part of all citizens in order to limit contagion. In all countries there are deaf people, who constitute a minority community. How do governments across the world commit to making deaf people aware of the pandemic? Is access to information guaranteed everywhere? Different scenarios worldwide are considered. In order to understand how the pandemic appears in the eyes of the deaf people, we shall focus in particular on the Italian situation. We consider the word “eyes” from two different perspectives: on the one hand, the importance of the visual channel and more broadly the question of the “visibility” of the interpreter; on the other hand, how Italian deaf people “see” the pandemic, taking into account the information they receive through translation into sign language. We delve into the narrative of the pandemic examining in particular war metaphors, which have occurred repeatedly in many speeches and conferences.