What is Sign Language Poetry?

Abstract

The idea of sign language poetry may seem unlikely to many people unfamiliar with sign language. Indeed, even members of Deaf communities using sign language have believed in the past that such a thing is impossible. This belief may be the result of the close association of poetry with sound and the rejection of sign languages as full languages by Oralists. However, as we work out the parameters of sign language poetry throughout this book, we will see that sound is not a prerequisite for poetry.