ASL Literature
Byrne
Decent Living. Each narrative has been divided into structural units and analyzed to show how both narratives conform to the tradition of oral literature.( p. 155)
Thanks to video technology, the narratives included in the ASL Literature Series were broken down into lines, stanzas, and other parts so that they could be better studied in a classroom where ASL is taught as a foreign language. Students are now able to locate a particular part of the narrative based on the use of stanza numbers and view it again for comprehension or where a particular event occurs that is critical to answering a literary question( S. Supalla & Bahan, 1994a; 1994b). Both videotaped narratives Bird of a Different Feather and For a Decent Living allow students to view them at their convenience without having to see the performers in a live performance, for example.
The narratives for the ASL Literature Series are single-authored works( see Rose, 1994 for further discussion on the emergence of the authorship concept for ASL as a non-written language). Bahan created the first narrative while Sam Supalla authored the second narrative. Since its release in 1994, the ASL Literature Series enjoys widespread circulation among the ASL and Deaf Studies programs that purchase it for use in the classroom. The description of these narratives in The Super Store of Books, Media and Equipment for the Deaf( 2016-2017) is as follows:
“ Bird of a Different Feather is about a bird born into a family of eagles. The response to this family member parallels the experiences of many deaf children born into hearing families”( p. 36).
“ For a Decent Living relates the challenges and adventures of a deaf boy who leaves his hearing family in search of his own identity as a deaf person”( p. 36).
Based on the wording above, Bahan’ s narrative as an allegorical fable would be correct in describing such work. S. Supalla’ s work is best characterized as a novella. Deaf identity is one theme among many in ASL literature. Bahan and S. Supalla’ s narratives incorporate the fact that a vast majority of deaf children are born to hearing parents who do not know signed language( at least initially; e. g., Lederberg, Schick, & Spencer, 2013). While some deaf children are born to deaf parents who use ASL and are raised in the deaf community, they are few in proportion. The majority of deaf children have to find their own ways of assimilating into the deaf community( Erting & Kuntze, 2008). Understandably, the unique and complicated identity development experiences so prevalent for deaf people can make a good story.
At the same time, not all single-authored works are tied to ASL literature. There are works that are folkloristic or community-owned with no known source of their origins( Bahan, 1992, 2006; Krentz, 2006; Rose, 1994). Frequently, these works were created and shared at the schools for the deaf, at banquets and other organized events that the deaf community hosted, and in homes( Peters, 2000). These works were narrated to entertain and instruct the young generation and to pass on the values and perspectives that deaf people possess. The enduring power of folklore centers on its amusement and educative function for the deaf community, and it can be seen as a mirror of deaf culture( Rutherford, 1993). A well-known example is the story of The Hitchhiker, which involves a driver who was deaf and picked up a hearing hitchhiker. The hearing hitchhiker was not only dumbfounded at the fact that a deaf person could drive, but also tried to trick him with something, but was outsmarted at the end. The noted discrimination associated with how deaf people should not drive was effectively addressed in the folklore, and deaf individuals have come
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