Introducing Sign Language Literature - by Rachel Sutton-Spence & Michiko Kaneko (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Introducing Sign Language Literature: Folklore and Creativity is the first textbook dedicated to analyzing and appreciating sign language storytelling, poetry and humour. The authors assume no prior knowledge of sign language or literary studies, introducing readers to a world of visual language creativity in deaf communities.

Introducing Sign Language Literature: Folklore and Creativity
- Explains in straightforward terms the unique features of this embodied language art form
- Draws on an online anthology of over 150 sign language stories, poems and jokes
- Suggests ways of analysing and appreciating the rich artistic heritage of deaf communities

Watch a short video about the book.

From the Back Cover

Introducing Sign Language Literature: Folklore and Creativity is the first textbook dedicated to analyzing and appreciating sign language storytelling, poetry and humour. The authors assume no prior knowledge of sign language or literary studies, introducing readers to a world of visual language creativity in deaf communities.

Introducing Sign Language Literature: Folklore and Creativity
- Explains in straightforward terms the unique features of this embodied language art form
- Draws on an online anthology of over 150 sign language stories, poems and jokes
- Suggests ways of analysing and appreciating the rich artistic heritage of deaf communities

Watch a short video about the book

About the Author

Rachel Sutton-Spence is a lecturer in Sign Language Studies at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil. She has long been fascinated by sign language poetry and folklore, and has published extensively on linguistic and educational aspects of sign language creativity, humour and metaphor. She is co-author, with Bencie Woll, of The Linguistics of British Sign Language: An Introduction (1999). She taught sign language linguistics and literature at the University of Bristol and to professionals working with sign language within the British Deaf community for many years.

Michiko Kaneko is a Lecturer and Head of the Department of South African Sign Language in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. She obtained her PhD in Deaf Studies in the University of Bristol, where she also completed a three-year postdoctoral project titled "Metaphor in Creative Sign Language". Her research interests include sign language linguistics, sign language literature (poetry and stories expressed visually, spatially and manually) and metaphor studies.
Rachel Sutton-Spence is a lecturer in Sign Language Studies at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil. She has long been fascinated by sign language poetry and folklore, and has published extensively on linguistic and educational aspects of sign language creativity, humour and metaphor. She is co-author, with Bencie Woll, of The Linguistics of British Sign Language: An Introduction (1999). She taught sign language linguistics and literature at the University of Bristol and to professionals working with sign language within the British Deaf community for many years.

Michiko Kaneko is a Lecturer and Head of the Department of South African Sign Language in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. She obtained her PhD in Deaf Studies in the University of Bristol, where she also completed a three-year postdoctoral project titled "Metaphor in Creative Sign Language". Her research interests include sign language linguistics, sign language literature (poetry and stories expressed visually, spatially and manually) and metaphor studies.