We have discussed sign language and the deaf community in class several times. Recently the "Google Alerts" have been flooded with sign language articles. I found two really interesting articles that seem to demonstrate the lengths to which people are going in order to expand the use of sign language in cultural events. These actions are helping to integrate the deaf community with the hearing community by allowing them to experience the same cultural activities.

In Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), the producers of an Aesop's Fables puppet show are attempting to bring the magic of the performance to the deaf community. Samuel Chew, a professional Malaysian sign language interpreter, will be giving the puppet characters of the play "voices" through sign language translation, so that deaf members of the audience will be able to enjoy the show alongside the hearing audience. Actors will play the roles normally, but Chew will be on the sides of the stage to translate the actors' lines for the deaf audience.

Chew claims that it will be more difficult to convey the roles of the characters through sign language than it would be to simply have a conversation in sign language. Expressing the several different characters simultaneously, while trying to capture the essence of the artistic aspects of the play can be extremely challenging. Certain terms have to be translated more or less literally than others in order to create the same meaning.

Despite translation difficulties, however Chew claims that the biggest obstacle will be trying to keep the deaf audience's attention on the puppet characters and not just the translator. He wants the audience to enjoy the show and to be able to both watch and understand the play. He will attempt to "convey the message of the source language into the target language without disrupting the dynamics of the play." He does not want to "steal the limelight." He states that luckily, sign language is very straightforward and there is not a lot of room for error. His job is to get the message across while allowing the audience to still pay attention to what is actually occuring onstage. He wants the deaf members of the audience to witness the same performance that the hearing members will.

More efforts to give the deaf community the same experiences as the hearing community occurred across the world from the Malaysian performance of Aesop's Fables. In Clarkston, Michigan, 52 year old Ron Swartz is enabling deaf children to experience the same excitement of sitting on Santa's lap that hearing children feel. Swartz, a deaf resident, has been doing this for ten years in his community. He uses sign language to communicate with the deaf children, asking them what they want for Christmas. One of the main reasons that Swartz took on this role was because as a child he always had a difficult experience trying to communicate with Santa. By acting as a deaf Santa Claus, Swartz allows deaf children to communicate with Santa in the same way that hearing children get to communicate with Santa.

These articles demonstrate a strong effort to connect the deaf community to cultural events that they might normally have to miss out on. I found it interesting that these two articles referred to events that are taking place across the world from each other, rather than in a specific area. Unlike most languages, sign language is omnipresent, and basically exists everywhere across the world. It does not discriminate between culture or what a person's native language would be, but is within each language and affects several different types of people.

I feel that the increase in efforts to learn sign language and to use sign language in schools and the community are similar to the many articles we read about improving and expanding language programs in schools and the community. Sign language is just another language and culture whose significance is being recognized. The necessity of communicating with others who speak different languages than we do is of the utmost importance in the world that we live in. Not only is communication crucial to political issues between nations, it is a crucial part of understanding culture and being able to build relationships with others that do not speak our native tongue.

The fact that there are so many articles about sign language reflects that the writers of these articles see this form of communication as significant. The effort to unisolate the deaf community from activities that are usually only able to be fully experienced by people who can hear demonstrates a unifying movement toward a more integrated deaf community.



Links:
1. Damron, Gina. "Santa Knows Sign Language." Detroit Free Press. Retrieved from http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071202/NEWS03/712020685/1005 on December 3, 2007.

2. Lian, Michele. "Telling Stories in Silence." Star Magazine. Retrieved from http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/12/2/lifefocus/19579105&sec=lifefocus on December 3, 2007.