In this paper, we consider the role of sign language poetry in creating and expressing the Deaf poet’s identity as a “visual person” in a community living within a wider national community. We show how two Deaf poets from different linguistic, national and cultural backgrounds nevertheless have both created similar effects through their sign language poems, drawing on the folkloric knowledge of their Deaf communities and wider national folklore. Analysis of the language and themes in the poems reveals that sign language components including neologism and use of symmetry can be manipulated directly to celebrate the visual experience of Deaf people. The poetic language can be seen as a way to empower poets and their audiences to understand their place better within the world Deaf community and their own national communities.
Sutton-Spence, Rachel & Fernanda de Araújo Machado
2023. Creative Sign Language,
Puupponen, Anna, Laura Kanto, Tuija Wainio & Tommi Jantunen
2022. Variation in the use of constructed action according to discourse type and age in Finnish Sign Language. Language & Communication 83 ► pp. 16 ff.
Wendy Ayres-Bennett & John Bellamy
2021. The Cambridge Handbook of Language Standardization,
de Quadros, Ronice Müller & Christian Rathmann
2021. Sign Language Standardization. In The Cambridge Handbook of Language Standardization, ► pp. 765 ff.
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