Overview

This unique collection of essays, accompanied by a pioneering DVD, at last brings a dazzling view of the literary, social, and performative aspects of American Sign Language to a wide audience. The book presents the work of a renowned and diverse group of deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing scholars who examine original ASL poetry, narrative, and drama. The DVD showcases the poems and narratives under discussion in their original form, providing access to them for hearing non-signers for the first time. Together, the book and DVD provide new insight into the history, culture, and creative achievements of the deaf community while expanding the scope of the visual and performing arts, literary criticism, and comparative literature.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dirksen Bauman ,  Heidi Rose ,  Jennifer Nelson ,  William Stokoe
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.544kg
ISBN:  

9780520229754

ISBN 10:   0520229754
Pages:   292
Publication Date:   20 December 2006
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   Awaiting stock  

Table of Contents

Contents of the DVD Foreword--William C. Stokoe Preface: Utopian Gestures--W.J.T. Mitchell Acknowledgments Users' Guide 1. Introduction H-Dirksen L. Bauman, Jennifer L. Nelson, Heidi M. Rose PART ONE: FRAMING ASL LITERATURE 2. Face-to-Face Tradition in the American Deaf Community: Dynamics of the Teller, the Tale, and the Audience--Ben Bahan 3. The Camera as Printing Press: How Film Has Influenced ASL Literature--Christopher B. Krentz 4. Deaf American Theater--Cynthia Peters PART TWO: THE EMBODIED TEXT: WRITING AND VISION IN ASL LITERATURE 5. Getting out of Line: Toward a Visual and Cinematic Poetics of ASL--H-Dirksen L. Bauman 6. Textual Bodies, Bodily Texts--Jennifer L. Nelson 7. The Poet in the Poem in the Performance: The Relation of Body, Self, and Text in ASL Literature--Heidi M. Rose 8. ASL Literature Comes of Age: Creative Writing in the Classroom--Liz Wolter PART THREE: THE POLITICAL TEXT: PERFORMANCE AND IDENTITY IN ASL LITERATURE 9. If there are Greek epics, there should be Deaf epics : How Protest Became Poetry--Kristen C. Harmon 10. Visual Screaming: Willy Conley's Deaf Theater and Charlie Chaplin's Silent Cinema--Carol L. Robinson 11. Hearing Things: The Scandal of Speech in Deaf Performance--Michael Davidson Afterword Carol A. Padden Appendix A: Time Line of ASL Literature Development Appendix B: ASL Video References Contributors Index

Reviews

Signing the Body Poetic should receive a deafening ovation. It is the first major scholarly work to celebrate and theorize American Sign Language artistic expression ranging from poetry, to theater and film. A must for anyone interested in contemporary poetry, drama, or literary theory. - Lennard J. Davis, editor of The Disabilities Studies Reader This collection is as unique as ASL, merging linguistics, nonverbal communication and performance in both the content of the chapters as well as in its form (text and DVD). Unlocking the performative dimension of ASL, it merges disciplines, communicative forms, and channels while demonstrating that our ability to communicate is not limited by the organs we use to do so but only by our ability to perform. - Michael L. Hecht, editor of Redefining Culture: Perspectives across the Disciplines

Author Information

H-Dirksen L. Bauman is Professor in the Department of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University. Jennifer L. Nelson is Professor in the Department of English at Gallaudet University. Heidi M. Rose is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Villanova University.

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