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Images of Deaf Culture and Identity in Sign Language Poetry

In this paper I will show how the themes and language used in sign language poetry construct and

show Deaf Culture and the identity of Deaf people as a collective visual people. I will use two

poems in British Sign Language (BSL), Five Senses by Paul Scott and The Staircase by Dorothy

(‘Dot’) Miles, to explore the images of deafness constructed and presented by two sign language

poems.

In Five Senses, the poet asks each sense in turn to explain what it is and what it does. The

senses of Touch, Taste and Smell are able to oblige by showing the poet what they do. However,

Hearing is unable to do this alone. When Hearing is accompanied by Sight, the two senses work

together to explain their importance to a Deaf person for perceiving the world. Dot Miles’ poem

The Staircase was first performed in 1987 at the graduation ceremony of the first British Deaf

people to be awarded a qualification in British Sign Language teaching from a British university.

The course they had followed was led by Deaf people and taught in sign language. The poem was

composed to praise and celebrate the achievement of not only the graduates but also their lead tutor.

The English translations of these two poems may be found at the end of this paper.

Sign language poetry, like poetry in any language, uses a heightened form of the language

(“art sign”) for aesthetic effect (Sutton-Spence, 2005). Enjoyment is an important element of BSL

poetry, and it is an increasingly popular form of language entertainment in the British Deaf

Community. However, the poetry also empowers Deaf people. Empowerment may occur simply

through using the language, or through the message carried by the language.

Using sign language in a poetic genre is an act of empowerment in itself for Deaf people as

members of an oppressed minority language group. For a long time, Deaf people were taught to

believe that English was the language to be used for high status situations and that "deaf signing"

was low status and only to be used for social conversation. Hearing and Deaf people thought poetry

should only be in English, because of its status. Referring to American Sign Language, Alec

Ormsby has claimed that before the 1970s, "No poetic register existed in ASL because poetic

register was socially inconceivable, and as long as it remained socially inconceivable, it was

linguistically pre-empted." (1995, 119) The same is true for BSL. However, changes began in the

Sign Languages: spinning and unraveling the past, present and future. TISLR9, forty five papers and three posters from the9th. Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research Conference, Florianopolis, Brazil, December 2006. (2008) R. M. deQuadros (ed.). Editora Arara Azul. Petrópolis/RJ. Brazil. http://www.editora-arara-azul.com.br/EstudosSurdos.php.

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1970s to allow sign language poetry to become conceivable and a reality. The slow emergence of

"Deaf Pride" – first in America and later in Britain and other countries -, the increasing recognition

of sign languages as real, independent languages, and the work of pioneering sign language poets

such at Dorothy Miles created a major change in outlook. In this social, historical, cultural and

political environment, every performance of a BSL poem, even today, is an act of empowerment,

and an implicit expression of pride in a Deaf signer’s language.

The importance of sign language poetry can be understood with reference to the ideas of

Deaflore (e.g. Rutherford 1993) and Deafhood (Ladd 2003). Deaflore is the collective knowledge

of individual Deaf communities and the shared World Deaf community. At a language level it refers

to the language knowledge that makes up the cultural heritage of Deaf communities and this

includes knowing and valuing the language elements that form a good poem. Deafhood is the

process through which Deaf people discover and develop their Deaf identity as members of a visual

collective community. Whereas ‘Deafness’ is a state of being that is determined audiologically and

may be construed fundamentally in a negative way, ‘Deafhood’ is an active process of belonging to

a linguistic and cultural group and is ultimately a positive journey of discovery. In ‘doing’ Deaflore

(including poetry), Deaf people are ‘doing’ Deafhood. Using poetry to empower members of the

Deaf community by creating language forms to describe the positive images of the experience of

Deaf people is a form of Deafhood.

Images of Deafness in sign language poetry may be considered in terms of a range of themes,

including:

• Deafness as “loss”

• Oppression by hearing society and Deaf people fighting back

• The sensory experience of Deaf people

• Celebration of Deaf success and the Deaf community

• Celebration of deafness (Deafhood?) and sign language

• The place of Deaf people in the world

1. Deafness as a “loss”

I have included this category in discussion of images in sign language poetry, even though I have

yet to find a sign language poem that focuses in a negative way on a sense of loss of hearing for

Deaf people. This fact needs to be highlighted because it is notably different from some poetry that

is written by deaf people using the language of the dominant hearing community, rather than in sign

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language. In poetry written by some deaf people, loss of hearing may be an issue but using sign

language seems to presuppose a sense of Deafhood, which means the idea of loss is not considered.

Paul Scott’s Five Senses directly addresses the issue of a Deaf person’s sensory experience,

including the inability to hear, and yet there is no image of loss. There is a powerful sense of

ownership in the poem, clearly expressing the poet’s identity as a visual person. While it is clear

the sense of Hearing cannot function alone, loss is not an issue because vision is so satisfactory to

the Deaf person’s experience. In Dot Miles’ The Staircase, there is no explicit mention of deafness

at all, but the characters are simply assumed to be Deaf. At the start of the poem, the people are lost

and afraid, but there is no intimation that this is because they cannot hear. Rather it is simply that

they have never been given the opportunity and leadership they need to succeed. When these are

offered, they are able to achieve their dreams. Loss of hearing is not an issue.

However, in contrast to these signed poems, some poetry written by deaf people in the

language of the hearing majority may refer to a deaf person’s sense of loss. John Carlin’s The

Mute’s Lament, written in 1847, is an example of a poem written by a deaf person that demonstrates

this.

The opening lines run:

I move, a silent exile on this earth;

As in his dreary cell one doomed for life,

My tongue is mute, and closed ear heedeth not;

No gleam of hope this darkened mind assures

That the blest power of speech shall e'er be known.

Murmuring gayly o'er their pebbly beds

The limpid streamlets, as they onward flow

Through verdant meadows and responding woodlands,

Vocal with many tones - I hear then not.

The linnet's dulcet tone, the robin's strain,

The whip-poor-will's, the lightsome mockbird's cry,

When merrily from branch to branch they skip,

Flap their blithe wings, and o'er the tranquil air

Diffuse their melodies - I hear them not.

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2. Oppression by Hearing Society and Deaf people fighting back

Sign language poetry may address some of the issues of oppression by hearing society, but it is

from the perspective that the problem lies with hearing society and that Deaf people can fight it to

achieve equality. Sign language poems empower the Deaf community by writing about deafness

and sign language in a positive way. They are optimistic and show Deaf people as people in control

of their own destiny. They acknowledge problems faced by Deaf people, and some identify the role

that hearing people have played in oppressing Deaf people, but they can show the strength of Deaf

people living in a hearing world. In The Staircase, the people have clearly been oppressed by

hearing society, as represented by the lion, the bog and the giant with his sword. But they

overcome their fears of these three dangers, overcoming oppression by the hearing world, and set

out to achieve their dream.

3. The sensory experience of Deaf people

The sensory experience of Deaf people features in many sign language poems. Sound and speech

are usually irrelevant and, instead, ideas of sight are brought to the foreground, reaffirming the

positive side of the Deaf experience of life and the existence of Deaf people as a visual people.

Time and again, the ideas of looking, seeing, eyes and vision occur in sign poems. There are many

occasions of "looking" that arise in signed poems because of the importance of vision and sight to

the Deaf poet and the Deaf audience. Placing these images in the sign language poem empowers

poet and audience, showing their visual identity and their Deafhood.

This visual perspective on the world is seen clearly in both Five Senses and The Staircase.

Examples vary from explicit use of verbs of vision to everyday phrases that are especially

significant in the context of the poems.

Lines from The Staircase demonstrate this very clearly:

"A dark forest. A figure creeps forward, peering ahead, …

… they see a light that glimmers,

glimmers."

In the "Deaf" forest, the enticing image is light in darkness. For a society that values vision so

highly, darkness must be avoided and light is sought. The sign used in the poem to show the

glimmering light is formationally similar to the sign showing the whole group of people rushing

towards their prize, and also to the sign APPLAUSE used at the end. Thus, the language used

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shows the relationship between Deaf people and light, the collective identity of Deaf people and the

celebration of both these aspects of Deafhood.

Formationally similar signs: ‘Lights glimmering’, ‘People rushing forward’ and ‘Applause’

In Paul Scott’s Five Senses, the senses of Touch, Taste and Smell all share the sense of Sight.

Touch looks at the cold and hot objects and at his frozen and burnt hands; Taste looks carefully at

the delicious (and not so delicious) food before and after eating it; and Smell also looks at the

flower, the cheese and the delicious morsel. The use of the eyes is particularly powerful in this

poem.

‘Touch’, ‘Taste’ and ‘Smell’ all using their eyes

Each sense “comes to life” when the finger straightens and the eyes open. At the end of its

turn, the sense withdraws by closing the finger into the fist and closing the eyes. In fact, the eyes

seem to lead us through this poem. The main problem with Hearing is not that it cannot hear, but

that it cannot see. (Related to this is the fact that it cannot stand up straight. Phyllis Wilcox (2000)

has observed that health and vitality are expressed metaphorically by upright forms, so the senses

that are able to stand up tall are healthy. Hearing is not fully formed and independent and that

finger cannot stand upright until it is joined by another finger representing Sight.)

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‘Hearing’ unable to stand up straight or open its eyes

4. Celebration of Deaf success and success of the Deaf community

All sign language poems are implicit celebrations of sign language and the Deaf community, but

some poems focus upon them explicitly. Some poems address the familiar dilemma faced by Deaf

people: do they stay safe within an undemanding but limiting life or do they attempt to improve

their situation, risking the security of their unchallenging world? This theme occurs in many Deaf

poems including The Staircase.

The theme in The Staircase is one of Deaf people who are offered a challenge and the chance

of winning great rewards. The challenge is not without risks and they need to decide whether or not

to accept it. The poem describes how their fear of possible lions, swamps and giants leads them to

refuse the challenge, but one member of their group encourages them to take the risk and climb to

success. The way that the group achieves success is shown in an especially “Deaf” way in the

poem. Firstly, the hero is not a typical hero in the “Superhero” mould. He is described as being

“balding, spectacled and somewhat plump”, yet he is the one who leads them to their triumph. The

important message here is that anyone in the Deaf community can be a hero. Secondly, the hero

leads the people up the stairs step by step. Often, the only way for Deaf people to succeed in life

has been to leave the Deaf world and join the hearing world. Such an image might have been

shown in The Staircase by the hero running to the top of the stairs and then beckoning to the others

to follow him. The distance between the top and bottom of the staircase would be too great,

however, and the others would not be able to make the journey alone. Instead, he climbs the first

step, checks that everything is safe and helps people up. They, in turn, help other people onto that

first step until they are all united in their small advance. Such an approach to success in the Deaf

community comes from an especially Deaf perspective.

5. Celebration of deafness, Deafhood and Sign Language

Five Senses celebrates the visual idea deafness and sign language. The language is deliberately used

to bring key ideas to the fore. In BSL all handshapes with a single finger extended are legal, except

for the single ring finger extended (see the figure in the preceding paragraph). This is the handshape

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he uses to represent the bewildered, uncooperative sense of hearing It does not occur in any signs in

BSL and is physically very difficult to articulate, especially with the non-dominant hand (as it is

used here). The final sign of the entire poem also uses an illegal handshape - all five fingers open

and spread, except for the little finger, which contacts the ring finger. This sign summarises the

senses for the poet and is highly creative and so marked that it requires considerable skill on the part

of the performer to articulate on the non-dominant hand (indeed, some people find it physically

impossible to do).

‘Illegal’ handshape in the sign “This is me” showing the

Deaf poet’s identity of Sight and Hearing fused

Throughout the poem the characterisation has consisted of a single questioning character and

the different senses, but in the poem’s coda, the poet/performer comes to the foreground of the

performance and steps out of the expected role of narrator to say, "This is me". This is a strongly

empowering moment, as the performer takes the boldly obtrusive step of explicitly "owning" the

content of the poem. Although we normally expect the person who composed the poem to perform

it, any Deaf signer could potentially perform Five Senses. However, if a hearing person were to

perform it the meaning so powerfully conveyed by this final act of identification would be radically

changed - perhaps to the point of meaninglessness. This shows that the poem is a particularly

strong expression of self-identity by a Deaf person.

Five Senses also uses symmetry extensively. The balanced use of space and the symmetrical

two-handed signs are very aesthetically appealing, so that it is simply a pleasure to watch. They

also have symbolic value, carrying ideas of unifying polar opposites and the Deaf person’s sense of

“rightness” that comes from sign language.

Much of the poem uses the device of keeping both hands in use, using different information

on each hand. The non-dominant hand permanently produces information that is perceived

simultaneously with the information from the dominant hand. For much of the poem, the non-

dominant hand holds either the simple 'A' handshape representing the group of “sleeping” senses, or

the handshape appropriate to the particular sense - the 'Å' for Touch, the 'G' for Taste, the 'middle

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finger' handshape for Smell, the 'I' for Sight and 'BSL 7' for Sight & Hearing. This use of the non-

dominant hand focuses on the sense under discussion.

Å in Touch ‘G’ in Taste Middle finger in Smell

‘I’ in Sight Ring and little fingers

in Sight and Hearing

Five Senses uses three main ways of creating symmetry in signed poems: sequential

placement of one-handed or two-handed signs in opposing areas of space; simultaneous use of two

one-handed signs that are opposed symmetrically; and use of symmetrical two-handed signs

(Sutton-Spence and Kaneko, in press). The use of symmetrical space in the poem has a pattern, so

that for the first three senses, symmetry is mostly created through sequential location of signs in

opposing areas of space. This reflects the duality of the ideas shown in the poem, which are an

integral part of bilateral symmetry. For instance, with Touch the right hand reaches out to the right

to touch something cold and then withdraws before the left hand reaches out to the left to touch

something hot. The balanced, opposing use of space and hands reflects the opposing semantics of

hot and cold. This spatial representation of hot and cold creates symmetry in a way that merely

signing HOT (a one handed sign) and COLD (a two-handed sign) would not. For Taste, the actions

are all performed by the right hand but it first holds and eats a delicious ice-cream on the right, then

takes a scoop of something unpleasant-tasting from the left and finally takes a scoop of something

more pleasant-tasting from the right. With Smell, the nice scented flower is picked and smelled

from the right using signs made with both hands, then the less-nice smelly cheese is taken from the

fridge on the left (again using both hands), before the agreeable morsel (unspecified in the poem)

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that is eaten and then sniffed appreciatively comes from the right. The balanced use of signing

space creates a feeling of symmetry in which these semantic opposites are bound by the central

plane of symmetry. As the central plane is occupied by the personified form of the sense in

question (achieved through active embodiment of the sense using personification) each sense

“vignette” is shown as a complete and unified experience.

Cold and Hot to right and left Pleasant and Unpleasant to left and right

in Touch in Taste

Scented flower and smelly cheese to

right and left in Smell

In the fourth stanza, where Sight and Hearing work together, the symmetrically balanced one-

handed signs are replaced by entirely two-handed symmetrical signs. The symmetry thus changes

from being sequentially produced to being simultaneously shown. Using two hands to produce

single signs parallels the senses of Sight and Hearing which are, themselves, combined into one. In

this stanza are the signs EYES-OPEN, INFORMATION-THROUGH-EYES (there is no ready

English equivalent term for this idea of "hearing through the eyes") INFORMATION, SPEED,

COLOURS, MOVEMENT, LEARN and finally TAKE-EVERYTHING-IN-THROUGH-EYES.

The signs are all symmetrical across the vertical plane, which is the natural bilateral symmetry for

the human body.

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EYES-OPEN INFORMATION- SPEED COLOURS

THROUGH-EYES

In The Staircase, the language is also used symbolically to express Deaf identity. Here,

symmetry and balance are used to signify the togetherness and collective nature of the Deaf

community. In The Staircase, the same sign is often articulated on the left and the right hand sides.

There is important symbolism behind this, because a central theme of this poem is “unity”.

Keeping both sides of signing space balanced shows the unity of the group climbing the staircase to

reach their goal. Although the individuals are separate people, they are bound together partly

through the unifying device of spatial symmetry, which shows a collective sense of identity.

Proform signs that are used to represent the actions of numbers of individuals can create

symmetry. Where there is an even number of individuals, half of them can be shown on each hand.

This occurs in The Staircase, creating symmetry in the opening lines as the people wander, lost,

through the forest. The English lines run:

A dark forest. A figure creeps forward, peering ahead,

Then comes another and another.

They draw together in uncertainty, then in a line,

They advance.

This may be glossed in BSL as follows, with the glossed signs placed left, right and centrally

on the page to represent how they are placed in space:

FOREST

DARK

PEOPLE

HAVE

ONE-PERSON-MOVES-FORWARD

ONE-PERSON-MOVES-FORWARD

TWO-PEOPLE-MOVE-FORWARD

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TWO-PEOPLE-MOVE-FORWARD

EIGHT-PEOPLE-(2x4)-MOVE-FORWARD

MANY-PEOPLE-(2x5)-MOVE-FORWARD

The signs are placed symmetrically across the central vertical plane. As the numbers in the

group grow, there is initially some asymmetry as one of the handshapes changes to reflect the

increased number, but symmetry is restored each time as the numbers shown on each hand balance

out. This pattern of asymmetry followed by symmetry occurs again in the poem when the hero

helps the group up the stairs. Once he is on the first step, he signs COME-ON to the left-hand side

of signing space and the next sign may be glossed as HELP-PERSON-UP. This is then repeated,

using the other hand, to the other side of signing space, creating symmetry in the poem. The next

proform sign PERSON-CLIMBS-ONTO-STEP is then made with the left hand to the left and then

with the right hand to the right, so that both sides are balanced again. This maintenance of

symmetry despite occasional shifts to asymmetry is an important part of the poem, which uses

"unity in change" as a central theme.

6. Conclusion

This paper has only considered two poems out of a large potential canon of BSL poetry. However,

any number of other BSL poems could be used to demonstrate similar examples of the images of

deafness and ways of creating those images. Creating positive images of the Deaf experience

through the use of deliberately creative and aesthetically satisfying language contributes greatly to a

positive identity that may be seen as an expression of Deafhood.

Acknowledgements:

I am very grateful to Paul Scott, Don Read and the BBC for their permission to use the images here.

Several of Paul Scott’s poem, including Five Senses, may be viewed at www.deafstation.org

(please reigster for deafstation, then enter deafstation, go to main menu, entertainment and choose

poetry, then Paul Scott. http://www.deafstation.org/deafstationDev/getAllPC.do;jsessionid=

4D62D8B004B1619F5288DE87047E743A?preferredClientId=1&preferredClipId=3&PCContentIt

emMasterId=6033

Paul’s poems may also be bought in a DVD format from Forest Books at www.forestbooks.com

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Ladd, Paddy. (2003) Understanding Deaf culture: in search of Deafhood. Clevedon: Multilingual

Matters,

Ormsby, Alec. (1995). The poetry and poetics of American Sign Language. Unpublished doctoral

dissertation, Stanford University.

Rutherford, Susan. (1993). A study of American Deaf folklore. Silver Spring, MD: Linstok Press

Sutton-Spence, Rachel (2005) Analysing Sign Language Poetry. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Sutton-Spence R & Kaneko M (in press) Symmetry in Sign Language poetry. Sign Language

Studies

Wilcox, Phyllis (2000) Metaphor in American Sign Language. Washington, DC: Gallaudet Univ.

Press

The Staircase – An Allegory

A dark forest. A figure creeps forward, peering ahead,

Then comes another and another.

They draw together in uncertainty, then in a line,

They advance.

But they come to a wall.

They retreat, gazing upwards - what is it?

Ah, it's a huge staircase.

Suddenly at the tip they see a light that glimmers, glimmers.

They are drawn to it and look at each other - who will climb up first?

Perhaps the one who climbs will face a lion's claws.

Or sink into the ground.

Or meet a giant with a sword and lose his head.

They back away and turn to go.

Then one of them, balding, spectacled, somewhat plump - says No;

Goes forward, climbs, looks around, sees all is well;

Beckons them on and heaves up those on either side of him,

Who then heave others, until all are in line on the first step.

On his left is a woman, short-haired and spectacled too,

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Eager to give support.

He moves on again, climbs up, beckons and hoists…

Again the line is straight.

So up and up they go, stair after stair,

And see that the glimmering light now glows around

What looks like a sword embedded in a stone,

Such as a king once drew and held aloft.

They press forward and someone reaches to grasp the sword's hilt - Lo and behold, it's a certificate!

One by one in a line they each get one.

But where's the man, balding, spectacled, somewhat plump?

He's sitting, looking on, applauding them, then rises and leaves.

And the woman - she takes up her certificate like a flag,

And leads the onward parade.

(Translation by Dot Miles)

Five Senses

Excuse me, but who are you?

Who am I? Come with me and see.

Feel your arms tingle at my embrace.

Reach out - oh, that's cold!

Reach out - oh, that's hot!

So, now you know me.

Excuse me, but who are you?

Who am I? Come with me and see.

A lick of ice-cream - mmm

A scoop of that - yuck!

A scoop of this - yum!

So, now you know me.

Excuse me, but who are you?

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Who am I? Come with me and see.

Pick a flower and sniff - lovely!

Take some cheese from the fridge - whiffy!

Pop this tasty morsel in your mouth,

Yes, and it smells good too.

So, now you know me.

Excuse me, but who are you?

Excuse me?

Excuse me, but what's wrong with him?

Oh, we're together.

Together?

Yes, come with us and see.

Eyes wide open, seeing and understanding.

Information and learning,

Colours, speed, action.

Learning and drinking in the world through the eyes.

So now you know us.

And now you know me.

(Translation by Rachel Sutton-Spence)