"It's Harder to Come Back Than to Leave"

This study explores how hearing children of deaf adults (Codas) in Spain discursively construct their ethnolinguistic identity through visual mapping and narrative reflection. Drawing on linguistic anthropology and heritage language frameworks, the research examines how Codas negotiate belonging within deaf ethnolinguistic communities, often marked by cultural fluency but constrained by hearing status. Using an ad hoc sketching technique and semi-structured interviews, the study analyzes participants' shifting selfpositionings in relation to the deaf community across the life course. Findings reveal a recurrent metaphor of circles representing community boundaries, with Codas locating themselves variably at the center, periphery, or outside these circles. The data illustrate that Coda identity is shaped by intersecting language ideologies, emotional affiliations, and social exclusions, and aligns with theoretical concepts such as constructive marginality and postnational belonging. Despite early immersion in sign language and deaf culture, many participants experience delegitimization, burnout from lifelong brokering, and a lack of tailored sign language education. However, peer-based spaces and heritage-focused learning emerge as crucial for identity affirmation. This study advocates for the recognition of Codas as cultural participants and calls for more inclusive frameworks that reflect the hybrid, transgenerational, and dynamic nature of deaf ethnolinguistic communities.

brokerage · Burnout · Deaf community · Deaf culture · ethnolinguistic identity · Language ideology · sign language education · Social exclusion · Spain · visual mapping · Hearing Impairment and Communication · Language and Culture · Multilingual Education and Policy