Emergence of Colorful Communication
Deaf-Related Art Genre
Deaf laughs
Deaf contributions to performing arts
Cartoons
Jokes/Humor/ Family Anthology of Humor
Deaf people don't follow the hearing humor. Conversely, Non-deaf people often don't comprehend deaf humor
Deaf humors involve mime, gesture, cinematic effects (like zooming, close-ups, fast and slow motion) and a lot of spontaneous sign play
ASL: Dr. Lynn Jacobwitz possesses a collection of original humorous thoughts, especially on the subject of ASL
Informally categorized into ASL, Deaf culture, Deaf-Blind, Hard of Hearing, and Lipreading Crisis
Can't hear
Linguistic
Response to Oppresion
M.J. Bienvenu classifies deaf laughs into four categories
Not until at least 60 years later that Gallaudet University launched its first formal drama classes in the late 1950s
Gilbert Eastman: 1957 graduate of Gallaudet, became the first full-time professor and director of dramatics at the college
Participants were encouraged to create their own scripts for declamation, poetry, storytelling, one-act plays, or to relate from existing sources of literature
National Technical Institute for the Deaf now has a theater department thanks to its faculty, Robert Panara and Patrick Graybill
Early 20th century, acting by deaf people took place in residential schools, usually during free time in dormitories
Lipreading: Some inopportune misunderstandings occur in real life
Whenever new devices come on the market, there is usually some creativity in deciding how the new-fangled devices can enhance the everyday of deaf people
Communication: Often deaf persons are caught in situations where they're not able to communicate with their hands
They are broken into five broad themes: Communication, Lipreading, ASL, Interpreter, and Technology
Specifically written to cover the traditional fields of visual fine arts as well as alternative media
They created the De'VIA manifesto, with the word De'VIA standing for Deaf View/Image Art
In order to stress the difference between art by and about deaf people, a group of eight deaf artists gathered for a four-day "What is Deaf Art?" workshop
Emphasis in De'VIA art is to symbolize the Deaf experience, the artists themselves do not need to be deaf
Works of some deaf people artists, such as Brewster, Carlin, and Tilden are not considered De'VIA
Deaf people find many visual things humorous
Deaf humor has a strong visual base.
One's decibel loss is far less important than one's allegiance to the deaf community
Significant amount of deaf folklore contains jokes and stories that deal with the inability to hear
Lexically based, and the punch lines in many ASL jokes are related to the word productions
Deaf people who experience oppression fight back through humor
"Zap" stories features deaf people getting even
Tales mentioned on this section are rich with justice, and always the offender is put in her/his place
Poetry
Recognized that there are many features in ASL that create "rhyme," such as the sign's direction or quality of movement, handshape, location of signs and orientation of the hands
As a result of the appreciation created through the studies in ASL linguistics during the 1960s, deaf people started to create visual (ASL) poetry or signed poetry
Clayton Valli, considered the first person to have analyzed ASL's poetic devices
Videotape ASL Poetry: Selected Works of Clayton Valli contains an outstanding collage of various ASL poems
Poems by deaf poets are usually written from the poets' experience as deaf people
National Theatre of the Deaf
Focus was to bring hearing roles to a play using deaf actors/readers on stage. Both deaf/hearing audiences could enjoy the play equally
Deaf West Theatre (DWT) produces plays in ASL with simultaneous translations in spoken English
NTD was the first to assemble a cast of professional deaf actors and actresses
Groups/Individuals that have emerged: Rathskeller; Invisible Hands, Inc; CJ Jones; John Maucere
1967: David Hays and 17 founding members, including Bernard Bragg and Gilbert Eastman founded the National Theater of the Deaf (NTD)