ASL Literature
Byrne
For example , originally written by Douglas Bullard , Islay is a novel about a deaf man who wishes to turn an imaginary island into a state populated by deaf people . This novel should be placed under the genre of novels under English literature ( Byrne , 2013 ).
This explains , in part , why a comprehensive ASL literature definition needs to take into account the concept of linguistic accessibility . The fact that ASL is a signed language has ramifications for how deaf children are best taught rhymes during the kindergarten year , for example . Rhymes or language play must be in the signed language modality , and there are several works published and made available for purchase ( e . g ., The ASL Parent-Child Mother Goose Program : American Sign Language Rhymes , Rhythms , and Stories for Parents and their Children by the Ontario Cultural Society of the Deaf , 2004 ). What has been done in deaf education has been incorrectly based on English rather than on ASL ( see S . Supalla & Cripps , 2008 for further discussion on the linguistic accessibility concept ). Deaf children need to be introduced to an alphabet that represents ASL , ideally through the handshape , location , and movement parameters that underline the formation of words in ASL . The ASL-phabet is one writing system that has been developed to address the deficiencies in the design of deaf education ( see S . Supalla & Blackburn , 2003 and S . Supalla & Cripps , 2011 for more information on the accessible curriculum design for use with deaf children ).
The Taxonomy of ASL Literary Genres
The discussion now moves on to what genres exist in ASL literature . There are hundreds of published ASL literary works that are in need of organization . Initiated by S . Supalla ( 2001 ), The University of Arizona ASL Literature Collection comprised of folklore , originals , and translations in both VHS and DVD formats serves as a testimony to the explosion of ASL literary works since the 1980s . The collection includes rare published works in ASL prior to the 1980s . The earliest known recordings of works of ASL literature date back to 1910 when the National Association of the Deaf ( NAD ) began a project of creating twenty-two films of master signers giving a variety of performances . One of the films which is frequently referred to today is Preservation of the Sign Language from 1913 ( Sign Media , Inc ., 1997 ). In this piece , then- President of the NAD , George Veditz , delivers powerful rhetoric in ASL criticizing the banishing of signed language from deaf education that was underway at that time . While Veditz was himself deaf , the NAD film collection includes a hearing signer by the name of Edward Miner Gallaudet who was President of Gallaudet University at the time . He was born to a deaf mother , which explains how he became a native signer . Mr . Gallaudet did an ASL translation of a story written in English .
The University of Arizona Literature Collection also includes other filmed ASL performances from 1925 to 1940 . Charles Krauel , a deaf filmmaker , took a visual record of deaf community events and some literary performances given by skillful signers ( T . Supalla , 1991 , 1994 ). The signed performances in Krauel ’ s films were subject to cataloguing in the ASL literature collection along with many more that are contemporary . Some of the contemporary examples belong to Sign Media , Inc . This company developed and released a videotape of original poems and narratives in ASL entitled American Sign Language : Tales from the Green Books in 1980 . A decade later , the same company produced a series of videotapes called Poetry in Motion featuring three ASL poets named Clayton Valli , Patrick Graybill , and Debbie Rennie . Another company that followed in the release of ASL literary works at a great volume is DawnSignPress .
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