By Emily Tartanella

On Thursday, February 28, Haverford students and faculty were treated to a display of linguistic and visual art most of them had never confronted before: sign language poetry.

Rachel Sutton-Spence, lecturer at the University of Bristol, began by elaborating exactly what “British Sign Language Poetry” entailed. To clarify, just as British English and American English are different, so are the two branches of sign language. Today the former was on display.

The poetry itself is an intensely visual art that, like traditional sign language, lets the hands speak for themselves. But unlike traditional sign language, the poetry works around repetition, rhythm, hand shapes, use of space, and facial gestures. It often personifies ordinary objects such as trees or elevators, transfiguring them into visual art. It must be seen to be understood. Sutton-Spence accurately referred to it as not only “the ultimate in aesthetic signing” but also “where the language really comes to the fore.”

Renowned sign language poet Paul Scott took the stage after a series of video examples. Scott’s work was beautiful and passionate. A poem entitled “Three Queens” reflected the history of sign language not as art but as communication, during the reigns of British monarchs Elizabeth I, Victoria, and Elizabeth II. He focused on the gift that sign language poetry represents for the artist: it is an opportunity to use space and the hands, rather than simply the mouth. Multiple events could be depicted simultaneously. Scott was able to represent these three monarchs using only his face and hands, creating a physical image of a complex idea.

Scott’s motions often resembled a complex interpretative dance, but moving only from the waist up. His hands fluttered, froze, and repeated complex patterns with a near-inconceivable fluidity. Whether telling the story of a tragically felled tree or composing intricate dialogues with his own senses, Scott used the most pure and physical poetry to communicate complex ideas. There was no confusion as to his meaning.

In the “tree” poem, the plant works as a symbol for the deaf community, too often restricted and rejected by the hearing community. As video clips of other poets demonstrated, this is an intensely cathartic art. While it has the power to be delicate and beautiful, it can also be violent, angry and expressive. A poem on parental reaction to a deaf baby featured initially soothing repetitions of hand shape, followed by a harsh claw image to demonstrate not only the attempt to “cure” the deafness, but again to restrict the deaf community.

Ultimately, Sutton-Spence managed to put the event into perspective: sign language poetry is important not just as “an affirmation of the beauty of the language” but simply “because it’s fun.” I am sure the audience agreed with her.

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