This summary is a chapter in a larger work entitled. Signing the Body Poetic: Essays on American Sign Language Literature, ed. H-Dirksen L. Bauman, Jennifer L. Nelson, and Heidi M. Rose, University of California Press, 2006, p. 21-50. Personal comments related to biblical storytelling are added in italics.
Storytelling is a part of almost all traditions, but it is especially valuable for oral cultures. Storytellers communicate history, values, culture, and community through stories. There are many common points between those who tell stories orally and those who sign stories. However, it is not accurate to say that those who communicate through American Sign Language (ASL) are part of an oral tradition. In this essay and in other reflections, a more fitting term is "face-to-face tradition."
Signers are bilingual in the sense of being part of those who are able to read printed English sources and may be able to read lips of English speakers, but signing storytellers translate those stories to members of the DEAF WORLD (Capitalized words represent how it is signed in ASL. The term is used to refer to those who primarily communicate with a visual orientation.) Storytelling is an essential way for the DEAF WORLD to communicate history, culture, and entertainment. Particularly for deaf tellers and audiences, stories shape identity and a feeling of belonging, in addition to giving a framework by which they can understand the larger world and preserve deaf culture.
In the DEAF WORLD, storytelling is a primary way of communicating, but some are more natural storytellers than others. Storytellers learn through training, learning and preparation, and apprenticing with those who have more experience. Similar to storytelling in other traditions, there are three pieces to the face-to-face tradition: teller, tale and audience. Bahan writes that these pieces are so intertwined it is hard to describe one without the others (p.25). This understanding of the interconnectedness between storytellers, stories, and audience is emphasized in the Academy for Biblical Storytelling (part of the Network of Biblical Storytellers, International) as well. For more information about the Network and ABS, go to https://www.nbsint.org
Good storytelling in a face-to-face tradition, signed or spoken, relies on control of language, non-verbal cues, choice of stories, and good assessment of the audience to make sure they are engaged in the stories. Embedded in each of these controls is effective use of pauses. Stories can cover many genres, but Bahan focuses on three styles: narratives, songs, and stories with constraints.
Narratives can be further broken down to include personal stories, cinematographic stories, folktales, translated pieces, and original creations. Other kinds of narratives are fairly self-explanatory, but cinematographic forms may have particular interest to those who tell stories in a variety of settings. Some cinematographic stories translate a movie into a told story. However, any story can use film techniques such as "closeups, panning, zoom in, zoom out, medium shots, far shots, and even the morphing of objects while telling stories" (p. 30). Signing has natural ways of indicating the relative distance between people or items. For those who use spoken words to tell a story, lessons from ASL storytelling may be beneficial to show a moving in from a city to a single house. For example, in telling the story of Jesus meeting Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), a teller could demonstrate a broad view of Jericho and "zoom" in to the tree to find Zacchaeus. When he offers to repay anyone he may have cheated four-fold, the storyteller could open up to reveal the crowds around him. See November 22nd post for a telling of this story. For more information about cinematographic devices, with examples, go to https://www.handspeak.com/learn/index.php?id=13
In translated works, bilingual ASL storytellers may use printed classic stories. However, it is not uncommon for characters to take on deaf attributes or cultural values. Original stories are created by a particular audience for a particular audience. In the DEAF WORLD, deaf protagonists prevail over attempts from others for that one to conform to a norm that isn't true for that character.
Songs may be in the form of translated songs or percussion signing. In translated songs, a familiar, traditional, or popular song is modified to fit the syntax and visual needs of the DEAF WORLD. Percussion signing connects ASL signs to particular cadences: "one, two, one two," One, two, one-two-three," and a mixture of the first two. Percussion signing is common in deaf congregations. For more on percussion signing, see this prezi presentation: https://prezi.com/7krh_beu0-j-/asl-as-art-percussion-signing/
Stories with particular constraints by alphabet or by number. There are four primary rules when telling an ABC story: 1) Each letter must be told in the correct order; 2) Changes to a hand shape must be within acceptable limits; 3) Other paralinguistic and telling techniques need to be used; and 4) The narrative has to tell a story. See videos for an ABC story of Creation (Genesis 2-3) and a secular Western-style ABC story (with letters highlighted -- note: T is not done as an official ASL letter). See November 11 post for my own version of an ABC telling of Luke 11:5-13
Like ABC stories, number stories, follow numerical order. A variation on this theme tells a story around a single word. Each letter of the word is shaped to create a short story. For example, a narrative around GOLF could be demonstrated by using a "G" sign to place the tee on the ground; "O" becomes the golfball on the tee; "L" forms a swinging club; and "F" shows the airborne ball.
Audiences are a significant consideration when determining what kind(s) of stories to tell. One of Bahan's concerns is for an audience with "insiders" and "outsiders," those who know the traditions, culture, and language, and those who do not. A similar question could be considered for biblical storytellers who may or may not know the context of the story. How much explanation should be shared, and how much can be conveyed through paralinguistic devices?
In his conclusion, Bahan notes that face-to-face traditions, though alive and strong, are dynamic arts. Video technology is influencing how tellers can and do create and share stories. Culture and technology cross lines, challenging and complementing each other. A similar dynamic is happening in biblical storytelling, where ancient stories are faithfully told using a variety of media forms.
ASL and biblical storytelling both rely on face-to-face traditions. An interweaving of teller, story, and audience create a new experience every time a story is told. As biblical storytelling works to reclaim an ancient tradition, learnings from the DEAF WORLD can offer guidance, support, and a model to adapt and follow.
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