20

Keni

Anypoemis not just about themeaningof thewords, but alsoabout somemusical qualityof thelanguage. Inahearing poemthis musical qualityis perceivedbythe ear, ina Sign poemit is perceivedbytheeye. Signhas tempo, shape, space and movement (these qualities can be present in spoken language too but are not visible). Forminhearingpoems is dictatedbysound–itisheard, forexample, instresspatterns, inthe rhythmof the words, inrhyme. InSign, this formis showninthe‘assonance’ and‘dissonance’ of handshapes, the flowofmovementbetweenthetwohands,therelation between thehandsetc. InThe Signs of Language byKlimaandBellugi, theauthors statethat‘whatisspecialaboutverse isa heightenedawareness of linguisticphenomenaas linguisticphenomena’. This holds true for hearingandSignpoems. Inart Sign, the signs are describedas ‘morefastidious’ where‘thevisual motivationof eachsignisemphasised to createastrongerimagerybut also to drawattentiontotheformof thesignitself’. Inadditiontoallthis, thepoetwillselectsignsandperform them in such a way as to forma visual three-dimensional designinspace. Thisiscalled‘superstructure’ andmightmost usefullybecomparedtomelodyinasongassomethingdistinct fromthewordsbutaddinganextradimension. Thereis, therefore, achoreographytoSignpoetrywherethe naturalphysicalityof thelanguage is harnessedandaugmented toproduce‘forminmovement’. Thistakesthelanguageaway frombeingmerelya methodof communicationandtowards performanceart. Insummary, there is clearly a very different aesthetic in Signpoetrythaninhearingpoetrywhichreflects theunique wayinwhichthose whose primarylanguage is visuo-spatial perceive and‘process’ the world. The full appreciationof a ‘visual music’ isunlikelytobepossibleforahearingaudience orfornon-nativesigners. Though‘artSign’ differssomewhatfromeverydaySign, itis likely that it remains comprehensible to a deaf or native