Handshape, location, movement, palm orientation & nonverbal elements

Any of them can be manipulated to create poetic effect in sign language literature, but of the five, manipulation of the handshape is arguably the most prominent

As Blondel & Miller put it "organizing the structure of a poem around the repetition of a single handshape seems to be the most usual, the most conscious & the most easily perceivable organizing principle"

Deaf poets often pay great attention to the choice of handshape because they are aware of its impact

Within every sign language, a limited number of handshapes combine with other parameters to create a very large number of potential signs to form the vocabulary of everyday sign language

There are 57 different handshapes listed in the Dictionary of British Sign Language, some of which have more than 100 established signs associated with them

The choice of handshape for a sign is often visually motivated, because a particular handshape visually represents a particular concept

For example, a 'B' handshape is used in many signs to refer to a door because it is broad & flat like a door, or a '1' handshape is used as a classifier to describe a long thin object because it is long & thin like these objects

In other instances, however, the handshape of a sign has no apparent visual motivation

In different signs creates a visual resonance

Visual resonance creates harmony & rhythm among signs with aesthetic visual appeal

Several types of stories with constraints, in which handshape can be manipulated at a very conscious & deliberate level, such as ABC stories, single handshape stories & number stories

In single handshape stories the narrator is allowed to use only one handshape to tell a story. This can be a challenge, as the signer needs to produce a coherent storyline using the limited number of established signs with that particular handshape, or make use of its visual features & create new meaning

John Wilson's Home follows strict handshape oncstraints

The poem juxtaposes the fate of a Deaf schoolboy being forced to speak & that of Laika, the first dog who was sent to space in Sputnik - a symbol of sacrifice in a major scientific experiment. The story alternates scenes focusing on the boy & the dog. The scenes told from the boys perspective exclusively use handshakes 'H' & 'V' and scenes in which the dog is the focus are told using only 'B' or '5' handshapes

While these stories with constraint can be simply for linguistic challenge aesthetic function of handshape can be achieved in a more subtle way & contributes to the poetic effect

Another poem by Wim Emmerik, Desert also makes use of negative handshapes

The signs used in this poem are very simple, but highly symoblic

A careful selection of handshapes contributes to such symbolism

The same handshape can be seen differently depending on the context in which it is produces. We can call this 'contextual symbolism' as opposed to the 'inherent symbolism' discussed

The works of the Dutch poet Wim Emmerik provide good examples to highlight the ocntextual symbolism in sign language poetry as his poems strongly associate bent handshakes with negative meaning