Redesigning Literature: The Cinematic Poetics of American Sign Language Poetry

Abstract

As literature and its criticism have evolved within speech and writing, the emergence of poetry in ASL raises important questions for anyone interested in the study of literature: Because ASL texts have no written form, can they rightfully be called "literature"? Would it be more accurate (though ironic) to speak of ASL texts as forms of "oral literature"? How does one even begin to discuss sign poetry? What lexicon should one use in identifying the poetic elements in a language without sound? This article explores the latter question concerning the lexicon of ASL poetics.