Introducing Sign Language Literature, Folklore, and creativity Chapter 15
Use of Signing Space
Literal Representation of Space
Symbolic Use of Space
Signs in Good Stories & Poems
Signs in good stories & poems are deliberately placed in specific areas of signing space; left or right, front or back & high or low
Consider the way signers use space in creative performances asking why storytellers & poets place signs where they do
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
Describing a Static Scene
A good narrator frequently describes the visual features of scenes & characters as they are introduced in the story before they show any action from those characters
When we look at a static image such as one in a photograph or picture, the different elements are all present at the same time, but a signer producing a version of that image often needs to produce several signs sequentially over time & so must choose an order for them
Research on many of the world's sign languages has found that a scene or landscape is usually described by placing signs in space with the larger, less mobile objects first & the smaller, more mobile objects next
Movement & Space in an Action Scene
Sign language storytellers often place signs referring to objects & people in their signing space as though they are recreating a map of real world space
Laying out signs by using a transfer of space from the real world into the signing world can be done from the external view of the narrator or from the internal view of a character
Skilled storytellers will show both these spatial arrangements clearly, so that audiences always know where people & things are in relation to each other
Once the essential layout of a scene is understood, we can see the location of objects & characters from the perspectives of different characters
Good storytelling ensures that each time we see the scene from a different characters perspective, signs are placed correctly to show the components of the scene in the right place
GOOD IS UP
The Left & Right Direction - GOOD IS RIGHT?
Expressions of Time Through Directions - FUTURE IS AHEAD, PAST IS BEHIND?
In & Out, Close & Far
Orientations (Or Directions)
Orientations are the source of metaphorical expressions in many languages, whether they are spoken or signed
We have seen many examples such as GOOD IS UP, BAD IS DOWN , FUTURE IS AHEAD, PAST IS BEHIND & VISIBLE IS OUTSIDE, INVISIBLE IS INSIDE
These metaphors go deeper than any particular language, or even the modality of signed or spoken languages, because they are part of the way we think, even before we put those thoughts into language
The most common example of orientational metaphor is seen in GOOD IS UP & BAD IS DOWN
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
This use of space is very common in expressions relating to time in sign language
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
Some cultures strongly associate left & right with symbolic meaning
Because most people are right-handed, the right is often associated with positive things & the left with negative things, so we might expect to see this in sign language too
Ideas located to the left & right in sign language poetry can be given a particular meaning in a poem, but the use of space is not metaphorical & is only maintained for that poem so that each new poem or story needs to establish the meaning of that division of space
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