SASL Newsletter - Fall 2019 Issue Issue 15 - Fall 2019 | Page 4

conversing with the boy. The way Supalla described her evokes genial rather than derisive laughter.
Below is his video to give you an idea of how he used caricature in his narrative:
“Reproduced with permission from DawnSignPress”
Source: Supalla, S., & Bahan, B. (1994). ASL literature series: Bird of a different feather & for a decent living: Teacher’s guide.
San Diego, CA: DawnSignPress.
In closing, the identification of caricature in Miller’s New York, New York and Supalla’s For a
Decent Living is appropriate given their embellished and laughter-evoking nature. The way both
narratives are told in ASL are evidently rich. Imagine that Supalla did not describe or portray the
receptionist like he did, the impact on the narrative of For a Decent Living would be detrimental. I
believe Supalla's caricature usage for the character helps strengthen the story when the receptionist
ended up hostile to the boy who wanted to apply for a job through her. The deaf boy would be too
much for the proper lady who thought that everything had to be her way. The receptionist's caricature
fits with how she was out of touch with the world.
References
Cuddon, J. A. (2013). A dictionary of literary terms and literary theory (5 th ed.). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
McLees, A. A. (1989). Baudelaire’s argot plastique: Poetic caricature and modernism. Athens, GA: The University of
Georgia Press.
Miller, M. B. (1991/2010). Live at SMI!: Mary Beth Miller [DVD]. Burtonsville, MD: Sign Media, Inc.
Perkins, D. (1975). A definition of caricature and caricature and recognition. Studies in Visual Communication, 2(1), 1-24.
Supalla, S., & Bahan, B. (1994). ASL literature series: Bird of a different feather & for a decent living: Teacher’s guide. San
Diego, CA: DawnSignPress.
Sutton-Spence, R., & Kaneko, M. (2016). Introducing sign language literature: Folklore & creativity. London, UK: Palgrave.
Wall, L., & Potma, S. (2010). Literary and stylistic devices [PowerPoint]. Presented at the Ernest C. Drury School for the
Deaf, Milton, Ontario on June 10, 2010.
The Power of ASL
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Fall 2019 – Issue 15