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Introducing Sign Language Literature, Folklore, and creativity Chapter 15 …
Introducing Sign Language Literature, Folklore, and creativity Chapter 15
Use of Signing Space
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Well-Placed Signs
Well-placed signs can produce clear, powerful visual images of scenes as they are laid out, but space can also be used metaphorically to represent abstract ideas such as emotions, identities & power relations
These are Literal & metaphorical representations of space that occur in sign language poems & stories
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Symbolic Use of Space
GOOD IS UP
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This comes from our experience of gravity, & the idea that a body is upright & higher up when it is healthy, young & conscious but curved & lower down when it is not; we get better views when are higher up; a taller person usually has the physical advantage over a shorter person & so on
The upward location or movement of manual signs & nonmanual elements (such as head movement or gaze) can carry a positive meaning, while downward movement can be associated with something bad
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Expressions of Time Through Directions - FUTURE IS AHEAD, PAST IS BEHIND?
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Most sign languages use the idea of 'timelines,' in which signs move through space to represent the passing of time
They commonly move forward to describe time in the future & backward to describe the past, following the very widespread metaphors that FUTURE IS AHEAD & PAST IS BEHIND
In & Out, Close & Far
Many poems carry the idea that the inside is personal, unseen & unknown, while the outside is public, seen & known
Signs that move inwards can suggest privacy, intimacy, security, emotion & acceptance
Signs that move & are located 'in' show the poets private self. Those that are located 'out' show the public self
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