Aspects of BSL poetry: A social and linguistic analysis of the poetry of Dorothy Miles

Author: Sutton-Spence, R.

Source: Sign Language & Linguistics, Volume 3, Number 1, 2000 , pp. 79-100(22)

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $37.41 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

The British Sign Language poetry of Dorothy Miles is a major contribution to the canon of BSL poetry. This paper considers her work as an example of “oral poetry“, in the tradition of other oral (i.e. unwritten poetry). Following definitions of oral poetry primarily from Finnegan (1977), I explore the degree to which Miles' BSL work may be considered “oral“ from the perspective of composition, transmission and performance, and linguistic structure. Although there are ways in which BSL poetry does share similarities with other spoken language “oral“ poetry, the unique relationship between sign language and spoken language creates situations in which the BSL poetry is unlike either oral or written poetry.

Keywords: Poetry; British Sign Language; oral poetry; foregrounded language

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sll.3.1.05sut

Affiliations: 1: University of Bristol

Publication date: 2000-05-01