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From:
Stefan Woehrmann2 Date: Mon May 7, 2001 10:57 pm Subject: Re: SignWriting and Deaf culture ; collection of SW stories | ||||||||||||
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Hi James , I was very surprised to see item # 6 on your wonderfull list. "6) The Mouse and the Lion: lion spares mouse; later, mouse frees lion from net. Was Aesop involved in this?? Anyway, this is one of those cross-cultural animal morality fables good anywhere. Moral: watch your step in the bush. " It is La Fontaine - who wrote this fable ;-) Aesop as well ??? Nevertheless I ±> very interested to look at your Nicaraguan Sign Language version - Do you know our Signed German Version (LBG) which is posted on our homepage https://www.gebaerdenschrift.de/school/loewe%20und%20maus/01_loewe.htm All the best Stefan ;-) ----- Original Message ----- From: Judy A. Kegl To: Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 5:39 PM Subject: Re: SignWriting and Deaf culture > Thank you, Valerie, for your kind remarks regarding the collection of SW > stories we just assembled for the students in Nicaragua. There are 19 > items, out of some 30 or 40 texts that we have prepared. (The next > collection will be prepared in the fall.) Since we are talking about > cultural issues, I will list the 19 for whatever inspirational value they > might have for the members on this list: > > 1) The Nicaraguan national anthem (adapted, of course, into the grammar and > syntax of Nicaraguan Sign Language) > > 2) La Cucuracha -- yes, it is a song, but music, like poetry, can be > adapted to sign -- and it is a lot of fun, anyhow > > 3) Olmo and the blue butterfly: appears to be set in San Francisco, deals > with multiple forms of urban transportation from skateboards to rocket > travel > > 4) Caps for Sale: about a peddler and monkeys, presumably set in small town > Europe, although when you think about it, one is much more likely to > encounter peddlers and monkeys in Nicaragua > > 5) Three Little Pigs: some students in our class actually live in stick > and straw houses, No wolves, though > > 6) The Mouse and the Lion: lion spares mouse; later, mouse frees lion from > net. Was Aesop involved in this?? Anyway, this is one of those > cross-cultural animal morality fables good anywhere. Moral: watch your step > in the bush. > > 7) If You Give a Mouse a Cookie -- definitely a well-off, industrialized > country mouse, although Nicaraguan children like to draw with crayons, too. > The format is full of conditionals, which are presented somewhat differently > in Nicaraguan Sign Language. We like the grammar lesson. > > 8) The Story of Babar, King of the Elephants -- okay, this is steeped in > early twentieth century French colonial philosophy: savages encounter > Western Civilization, then undergo transformation as old ways are abandoned. > You just can't get more politically incorrect than this. The older Deaf > students immediately recognize the parallel with their own lives > (languageless waifs enter school, exit refined.) If this story keeps one > student from chomping on poison mushrooms, then it was all worth it. > > 9) I Want My Banana: monkeys, snakes, tigers and bananas: this story good > BE in Nicaragua (except for the hyena) > > 10) David and Goliath: underdog tramples giant, i.e., Sandino holds U.S. > Marines at bay (and you thought this was about a little Jewish kid) > > 11) Pirate Queens: a women's lib story: female pirates attempt to save > ship while drunken macho males play poker below deck. Not wishing to be > insulting to Nicaraguan masculinity, but, gee, sounds like day-to-day life > here. Moreover, Bluefields was a hangout for pirates way back when. > > 12) Louis Pasteur: French doctor fights rabies. The doctor was a white > guy, but germs don't notice such distinctions, and Deaf kids in Nicaragua > need to know about vaccinations, too. > > 13/14/15) The Trojan War/Odysseus and the Cyclops/Odysseus and the Cattle > of the Sun: The Trojan War is about a military strategy. I have never seen > a one-eyed cannibalistic giant in Nicaragua, but I have serious doubts the > Greeks encountered any, either. For those who do not know the cattle story, > the Greeks, confronting starvation, cook a cow belonging to the sun god. > They tried fishing, but as a little joke Zeus wouldn't let them catch > anything. Infuriated by the sacrilege (eating a god's cow), Zeus drowns > them all, save Odysseus. Great wrath of the gods stuff -- lots of insight > into Greek theology. Why deny this to a child because he was born 3,000 > years later on the other side of the Atlantic? > > 16) The Spirit of St. Louis: probably the best story about work exhaustion > ever, and a terrific geography lesson to boot. On his next trip, by the > way, Lindy headed south, overflying Nicaragua due to the ongoing civil > hostilities below. > > 17) Nicaragua is White: Meteorologist predicts snow; Somoza declares > holiday and orders parade on the eventful day; winter clad soldiers and > schoolchildren collapse while marching under Managuan sun. We performed > this satire as a school play after a group in England donated winter > clothing for our students -- just goes to show anything can be put to good > use. > > 18) The Flying Frog: boastful frog claims he can fly, then persuades ducks > to carry him aloft -- things go quite well until ducks get cocky. The claim > is that this is an old Nicaraguan indigenous folktale, but this plot could > come from anywhere. > > 19) Tailypo -- an African-American folktale, more of the ghost tale genre. > Hermit eats tail from animal unknown, which later exacts vengeance. Half > our students are of African descent, and all of them are Americans. > > > As you can see, not one of these stories features a Deaf protagonist or > villain. But, I don't see anything culturally insensitive in any of this. > What would be really culturally insensitive and really "politically > incorrect" would be to have these translations and adaptations prepared > entirely by non-native signers. You would end up with a pidgin. > > -- James Shepard-Kegl > | ||||||||||||
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