While researching, I found a quote by Paddy Ladd about Deaf culture: “Deaf people… are unique in being the only linguistic group to have a community in every country in the world.” I thought it was really interesting that even though deaf people all around the world communicate in different sign languages, they are able to share pieces of the same culture.
Literature on Deaf culture describes 5 key characteristics. They are language, the norms of behavior, values and beliefs, traditions and heritage, and possessions and artifacts. First and foremost, members of Deaf culture are deaf (with varying degrees). They use sign language (varying degrees of fluency), ASL in America, for communication. (There is no universal sign language!) Members must also value that being a person of the eye is okay and not abnormal and follow behaviors such as strong use of eye contact and facial expressions. There is also the characteristic of heritage, but since many Deaf people are only one generation thick, most deaf people are accultured into Deaf culture and it can be difficult to transmit the cultural traditions to the next generation. American culture has fast food, football, fashion, and jazz music, Deaf people have artistic expressions such as Deaf folklore, Deaf View/Image Art, Deaf film, and Deaf literature.
With that overview of Deaf culture, I thought that I would dive a little deeper into a more specific aspect of the culture. I was intrigued by Deaf folklore and decided to look further into it. Deaf folklore is a way for people in the Deaf community to pass down stories about their identity and culture through sign language. There are also deaf jokes, riddles, puns, and sign language humor included in many of these tales. Furthermore, it is a way to preserve and celebrate sign language. Many of these stories are even personal experience narratives people want to share with one another. There really isn’t an “origin” of Deaf folklore because it existed as long as sign language has existed.
I looked up some common folklores and a famous one that kept popping up was, “The Deaf Tree” (also known as “Timber”). I watched a couple versions of the story and found that the individual executing the story can make a huge difference on the audience watching. Like American folklore, storytelling is a form of art and the narrator’s skill level correlates to how well a storyteller can engage with the audience and make it interesting. Each storyteller has their own style/signature in how they narrate their story. Specific to Deaf folklore, storytellers also incorporate rhythms in their movements. I put a link to one of the versions of the story I enjoyed below. The narrator was able to deliver a great story through her use of strong facial expressions and also by emphasizing her movements. As someone who has not had prior experience with sign language, I was surprised to see that I was still able to follow along the general idea of the story even without the captions.
http://deafstudiesonline.weebly.com/3-deaf-communities--subcultures.html
https://www3.gallaudet.edu/clerc-center/info-to-go/deaf-culture/american-deaf-culture.html
https://festival.si.edu/past-program/1981/folklore-of-the-deaf
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