{"id":9348,"date":"2025-03-03T07:07:50","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T05:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/satakielikuukausi.fi\/?p=9348"},"modified":"2025-03-04T11:23:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T09:23:39","slug":"sign-language-expands-our-understanding-of-literature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/satakielikuukausi.fi\/en\/sign-language-expands-our-understanding-of-literature\/","title":{"rendered":"Sign language expands our understanding of literature"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are used to thinking of literature as words on a page. This perception is changing because of audiobooks, which were originally created for the needs of the visually impaired. Nowadays, audiobooks are a big business \u2013 with stunningly poor compensation for the author \u2013 but that\u2019s not why we\u2019re here today. Instead, let’s talk about a type of literature that\u2019s far less known: sign language literature.<\/p>\n

There is no established way to write sign language, although there have been attempts to do so it in different ways. Sign language is based on visual elements \u2013\u00a0gestures, facial expressions, body movements \u2013 and that makes it very difficult to express in writing. That is why literature in sign language primarily exists as recorded videos. It is therefore consistent in structure and expressive in content, a unique style in the field of literature. Signers plan, structure and rehearse their performances in advance while refining the details and highlights. A sign language narrator can express something with a single sign that would take an entire page of a book to describe. Riitta Vivolin-Kar\u00e9n, producer for The Sign Language Library, has compared fairy tales read in different languages. What she\u2019s found is that fairy tales told in sign language are by far deeper in tone than ones told in spoken languages.<\/p>\n

\"Liisa
Liisa Syv\u00e4salmi signs a children’s fairy tale called “Sea unicorn”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Sign Language Library fosters sign language literature<\/h2>\n

Vivolin-Kar\u00e9n is a protector of many things. The Sign Language Library that she leads was founded ten years ago to be a part of the Finnish Association of the Deaf. It receives funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture. The tasks of the Sign Language Library include the recording of sign language literature. In the early days of the library\u2019s existence, the definition of sign language literature sparked debate. What the prevailing way of thinking was that since sign language is not written, literature in sign language cannot exist. Today, that has changed and material in sign language is understood as literature.<\/p>\n

The Sign Language Library is internationally unique. Because the material is precisely categorised and goes back decades, it provides an unprecedented opportunity to observe sign language by text type. The library does not only store literature in sign language, it also produces its own content, which aims to take different text genres into account as much as possible. The Sign Language Library plays a particularly important role as a publisher and compiling institution for the production of sign language authors.<\/p>\n

School of the Deaf \u2013 the cradle of sign language<\/h2>\n

Sign language literature has not been thought of as a separate type of literature until the last few decades. Particular thanks are due to the literature research carried out by American linguist Clayton Valli. Valli himself was deaf and became known particularly for his poetry in sign language. Poems and songs are also the most beautiful and impressive forms of sign language expression in Finland. What is also on the rise is Visual Vernacular, a stunning form visual recitation that combines sign language, pantomime and cinematic narrative. In it, one signer can play multiple roles and even transform into different objects.<\/p>\n

The performance of Visual vernacular artist Lee Robertson is full of expression:<\/p>\n

Luukku 16, joulukalenteri 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n