ASL Literature
Gibson (2000, pp. 9-10)
Gibson & Blanchard
(2010, p. 24)
Marsh (1999, p. 269)
Peters (2001, p. 130)
Rose (1992, p. 26)
Byrne
ASL has a literature of its own that has been passed down from one
generation to the next by culturally [d]eaf people. It is conveyed in
a visual-spatial dimension. It shares similar elements and functions
of any literature in any language. For [d]eaf children, it is an
important building block that presents them with opportunities to
learn language, knowledge, values, morals, and experiences of the
world around them. It also provides them with the bridge to English
and other literatures. ASL Literature exists in two forms; 1) through
the air and 2) on videotapes.
ASL has a literature of its own that has been passed down from
generation to generation by the ASL community. It shares similar
elements and functions of any literature in any language. For
children that use ASL, it is an important foundation that presents
them with language, heritage, and experiences of the world around
them. ASL also provides them with a bridge to English and other
literatures. ASL literature exists in two formats: live and on video.
[The definition of ASL literature is] signed expressions of enduring
interest.
[V]ernacular ASL literature is more of an ‘art for a people’s sake’
than an ‘art for art’s sake.’ The literature in the vernacular is largely
a collective, ‘orally’ (via sign language) transmitted body of
performative works. Although ASL works are increasingly
recorded or even composed on videotape, many [d]eaf American
storytellers, like the storytellers of old, still travel about and render
stories and other vernacular art forms to comparatively small groups
of people, frequently as part of some occasion such as a social
gathering, ceremony, or festival. Drawing on a traditional stock of
stories and other ASL art forms, an ASL artist can choose a story,
art form, or even an original piece by another ASL artist, make
individual modifications, and, at one time or another and in front of
one or another group of viewers, render his or her own variant. An
ASL storyteller, in telling a story to a group of viewers, does not
just recite but performs to keep the interest and attention of the
viewers, enacting one or more characters in a kind of semi-play,
semi-mime, all the while conveying mannerisms, appearances,
attitudes, and emotions.
ASL literature refers to texts created in ASL by [d]eaf people,
whether the pre-videotape folklore forms or the new body of single-
authored works preserved on videotape.
The multiple ASL literature definitions listed above have produced a number of insights,
but some require clarifications. One example is the description of ASL literature as vernacular as
it relates to Bahan’s telling of Bird of a Different Feather on the stage as opposed to its videotaped
edition. Bahan has done the same narrative in both settings. To be sure, there may be some
variations when he performed the narrative on different occasions or from stage to stage, but the
quality is consistentl