A critical methodology for analyzing American Sign Language literature

This study analyzes original literature created in American Sign Language (ASL). The historical component traces the history of ASL literature, and two primary periods are identified: (l) the pre-videotape period, which includes Deaf folklore and oral traditions created in ASL and passed down "orally" through successive generations; and (2) the post-videotape period, which includes single-authored works created in ASL and published on videotape. The video form of preservation parallels the invention of the printing press in hearing culture.; The critical component of the study provides a method for studying original ASL texts of the post-videotape period. This method derives from Body Knowledge, a concept positing that cognition can best be explained by the recognition that human beings interpret reality through a mind-body union. Principles of Body Knowledge are synthesized from the fields of dance, feminist criticism, and performance art so as to provide a framework for analyzing original ASL texts.; Aesthetic texts created by four Deaf artists are examined: "Snowflake," by Clayton Valli; "The Hand is Quicker than the Ear," by Sam Supalla; "Missing Children," by Debbie Rennie; and "Plausible Deniability" by Peter Cook. The analysis presents distinct manifestations of Body Knowledge in original ASL literature through the artists' linguistic use of the performing body.; This study suggests a new name and definition for ASL creative texts. The art form is newly referred to as ASL ART, defined as the union of language and gesture that results in linguistically organized aesthetic movement. This study contributes to an understanding of ASL ART in three primary ways. First, the vocabulary of literary modes (lyric, epic, dramatic) is presented as being more useful than that of genres for defining ASL ART since modes are not limited to the written word. Second, qualities of the ASL aesthetic are clarified through analysis based on the framework of Body Knowledge. Third, insights are offered into Body Knowledge as it is manifested in ASL aesthetic performance and, by extension, in all human communication.