Creative Sign Language (Elements in Sign Languages)

✍ Scribed by Rachel Sutton-Spence

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 102
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This Element describes creative sign language in deaf literature. To showcase the exciting developments in Latin American deaf literature, the authors focus upon creative Libras as it is used by the Brazilian deaf community, while emphasising aspects of Libras literature that can be seen in similar productions and performances in sign language literatures around the world. Throughout the Element, the authors refer to examples of Libras poems and stories to give readers a practical experience of appreciating works of creative sign language. They describe Libras literature within its historical and social contexts and consider questions of performance, filming and editing and the potential for written Libras literature. Drawing on anthologies of Libras poems, jokes and stories, they use close-reading techniques to show how the literary effects are created, while reminding the reader that sign language literature cannot be separated from the deaf community.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Title page
Copyright page
Creative Sign Language
Contents
Introduction
1 History and Social Context of Sign Language Literature
Face-to-Face Encounters with Sign Language Literature
Generations of Deaf Artists
Technology and the Evolution of Artistic Productions
Literary Collections and Anthologies in Libras
2 Aesthetics of Creative Sign Language
The Visual Nature of Signs
Linguistic and Performance Features
Foregrounding Language – ‘It’s how you say it’
Performance
Handshape
Established and Novel Classifier Handshapes
Use of Space and Symmetry
Rhythm and Speed of Movement
Facial Expression, Body Movement
Embodiment and Anthropomorphism
Filmic Productions – Multiple Perspectives
Beyond the Body – Mise-en-Scène, Special, and Visual Effects
3 Genres of Creative Sign Language
Written Libras Literature
Humour
Stories
Narratives of Personal Experience
Filmic Monologues of Visual Vernacular
Original Constraint Stories
Children’s Literature
Poems
Haiku
Performance Challenge Poems
Duets
Deaf-Related
Horror
Classifier and Garden Path Poems
Slams
Translations and Adaptations
4 Themes and Content in Creative Sign Language
Thematic Organisation of Recorded Deaf Literature
Conclusion
References
Acknowledgements