Comparing the Products and the Processes of Creating Sign Language Poetry and Pantomimic Improvisations

Abstract

In this paper we ask how artistic mime and the more mimetic elements of sign language poetry compare. Niedzialkowski (Beyond the word: The world of mime. Momentum Books, Troy, 1993) has claimed: “To express complex ideas and feelings a poet uses words; for the mime the medium is the silent body” (p. 1). For a sign language poet, however, the medium for the poet’s words is the body. We outline some of the similarities and differences between elements of artistic mime and of highly visual creative sign language, and find that many aspects of the art that we call mime can be seen in sign language poetry, so that we may refer to sign language mime and non-sign language mime. The similarities we see between the signers and non-signers clearly reveal a shared way humans can use their body to show concepts involving actions and descriptions; the differences lie in the kind of information they show and the way they show that information. We suggest that some of this difference is driven by the differing needs and abilities of their audiences to understand their performances.