SASL Newsletter - Spring 2018 Issue Issue 9 - Spring 2018 | Page 2

SASL Executive Board 2015 – 2018 President Samuel J. Supalla University of Arizona [email protected] Vice President Deirdre Schlehofer Rochester Institute of Technology [email protected] Recording Secretary / Newsletter Editor Andrew P. J. Byrne Framingham State University [email protected] Treasurer Harvey Nathanson Austin Community College [email protected] SASL Journal Editor-in-Chief Jody H. Cripps Towson University [email protected] Members-at-Large Russell Rosen CUNY – Staten Island [email protected] Gabriel Arellano Georgetown University [email protected] Ron Fenicle Montgomery College [email protected] The Power of ASL By Andrew P. J. Byrne The Hitchhiker and Its Versions In the previous issue, I wrote about the American Sign Language Literature Database, which serves as a resource for scholars, educators, performers, and other interested parties and individuals to get quick and convenient access to literary works in ASL for recreational, pedagogical, and scholarly purposes. I also talked about folklore, one of the two main categories of ASL literature in the database. Currently numbering 52 entries, the folklore section of the database includes multiple versions of the same work signed by different storytellers. For instance, a well-known humorous narrative entitled The Hitchhiker has eight versions produced between 1981 and 2017. Here, I would like to take an opportunity to look at this narrative and its versions in detail. The Hitchhiker involves a deaf driver, a hearing hitchhiker, and two police officers. On the highway, the driver picks up the hitchhiker and travels at a speed that is greater than the legal limit. The driver gets pulled over by the police. The driver gestures to indicate that he is deaf. The police officer warns him to slow down and sends him on the way. The hitchhiker thinks, “Oh boy, the deaf sure get off easy.” Soon afterwards, the driver becomes tired and asks the hitchhiker to take over. As soon as he speeds, the other police officer pulls him over. Thinking that he would be let go without a ticket, the hitchhiker gestures that he is deaf. The officer responds in ASL that his parents are deaf as well and gives him the ticket (Rutherford, 1993). Deaf people have come to love and cherish this narrative for a variety of reasons. One is the significance of the fact that the deaf driver owns a car and that has a historical significance to it. The deaf community in the United States and Canada had to fight well into the 20 th century to gain driving rights. While the hitchhiker in the narrative is hearing, the deaf driver of the car gives deaf people a boost in their self-image. Deafness is a misunderstood concept, and deaf people have endured poor or inappropriate perceptions. The first police officer who let the deaf driver go without any penalty for speeding suggests a form of pity from society towards deaf people. The concept of the hearing hitchhiker pretending to be a deaf person in hopes of being excused for speeding is offensive to deaf people. The second police officer, himself a __ (Continue on the next page) 2 Spring 2018 – Issue 9