Signed renga: Exploration of collaborative forms in sign language poetry. Issue 3 (3rd July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mesch, Johanna; Kaneko, Michiko
• Is Part Of: African studies. Volume 76:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 381
• Page End: 401
• Publication Date: 2017-07-03
• Subjects: sign language poetry -- South African sign language -- renga -- transition -- collaboration -- dialogism; African languages -- Periodicals; Ethnology -- South Africa -- Periodicals; Indigenous peoples -- South Africa -- Periodicals; South Africa -- Languages -- Periodicals; 305.800968
• DOI: 10.1080/00020184.2017.1346341
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-0184

Abstract

ABSTRACT: South African Sign Language (SASL) poetry is still exploring many forms of poetry genres. This article describes the recent development of a new 'genre' in sign language poetry: signed renga (group poetry). The article will outline the form – what it is, how it has developed and spread, and why it is an apparently successful poetic genre. A sketch of a workshop from Signing Hands Across the Water 2 (SHAW 2) will also be provided to illustrate how renga emerges out of group work. First we will briefly explain common features of signed renga, drawing on a body of signed renga in British, Irish and Swedish Sign Languages. The second half of the article is an in-depth analysis of one signed renga, titled South Africa, which emerged from the SHAW 2 festival, with a focus on transitions as collaborative performance using shared signing space and eye gaze direction.