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From:
Valerie Sutton Date: Wed Jan 13, 1999 9:18 pm Subject: Report on SignWriting In Spain | |
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January 13, 1999 Hello Everyone on the SignWriting List! I have been off line for several days, but I am now back online. I really enjoyed opening my email box to see all of the wonderful messages posted to the SignWriting List! I have been working over the weekend with visitors from Madrid, Spain. Steve and Dianne Parkhurst are American linguists who have lived in Spain for years, recording Spanish Sign Language, using SignWriting. Their work is outstanding, and I am writing this message to tell you a little bit about it. I also had the joy of a third visitor...their baby son, Spencer, who is three months old. I do not have children myself, so it is always a pleasure for me to come in contact with "little-ones" like Spencer. My mom has kept the Sutton bassinet all these years. It was purchased in 1948 for my sister and myself. No one has used it since! So, all these years, the bassinet has been sitting in my garage, holding DanceWriting textbooks and SignWriting charts :-) When I knew that Dianne and Steve were bringing Spencer with them, I decided to clean out the bassinet, and to my pleasure, Spencer slept in the Sutton bassinet, looking like an absolute doll! And while we three adults were working on reading Spanish Sign Language, Spencer was propped up on red pillows, smiling at us!! The Parkhursts have done a large and impressive work. They are at an advanced level with SignWriting, using and stretching the writing system to its fullest. Not only have they written a textbook with 14 chapters (no small task), but they have also videotaped Deaf native signers in Spain, expressing poetry and prose, and the Parkhursts then transcribed from those videos into SignWriting, creating the most beautiful written documents you ever have seen!! Steve Parkhurst has a background in graphics and design, and he created illustrations for their new textbook. The Parkhursts and I will be sharing some of our illustrations, so Steve's excellent artwork will benefit all of us :-) Like SignWriting in Nicaragua, which has spread because of the hard work of James and Judy Shepard-Kegl, SignWriting in Spain seems to be spreading now too, partly because of the hard work of Steve and Dianne Parkhurst. Of course, in both countries, there is a team effort with many people. Writing any signed language is a big job. For example, in Spain, Irma Maria Munoz Baell and others at the University of Alicante are planning to publish the beginning chapters of the new textbook. The new publication will be called "Primeras lecciones de Signo Escritura". Of course, this is all in the editing stages, but I hope that others on the SignWriting List from Spain can tell us more about your plans :-) This morning I awoke with the visual images of written poetry of Spanish Deaf poets in my head. Steve wrote some of the poetry from the expressive view, but he also wrote some of it from the overhead view, making a very artistic impression of the poetry. SignWriting is a flexible writing system, that can be written from any veiwpoint, so for poetry, the overhead view is quite mesmerizing. I am looking forward to posting this poetry under our Deaf Author's Series on our SignWriting Web Site, with permission from the Deaf poets. It is very gratifying for me to see SignWriting used on such an advanced and fulfilled level. The writing of Spanish Sign Language literature is just as advanced as our SW Level 3 and 4 for ASL, and the writing of short stories and novels, such as Moby Dick, in Nicaraguan Sign Language. I worked intensely with Steve and Dianne for two and half days. We read through the following: 1. 14 chapters of the new textbook teaching SignWriting in Spanish Sign Language 2. poem "ShipWreck" that uses the 5 Handshape 3. poem where each sign uses the handshape to spell the Spanish word "blanca" 4. poem using handshapes 1 and 0 5. Australian Folktale: The Koala and The Emu 6. Fable: The Bird and The Jar of Water 7. Fable: The Dog and His Bone and there were others too! Lots of literature written in Spanish Sign Language :-) The Parkhursts are still in the USA, visiting family. They will be back in Madrid by the end of January. You can write to them for more information about Spanish Sign Language literature: Steve and Dianne Parkhurst "Si desean mas contacto personal, pueden escribir a Steve y Dianne Parkhurst en Madrid. Su direccion de e-mail es: , y su telefono es el 91-656-4559 (voz/fax)". And all good wishes from me, here in La Jolla, California! Valerie :-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valerie Sutton at the DAC Deaf Action Committee for SW SignWriting https://www.SignWriting.org Center For Sutton Movement Writing an educational nonprofit organization Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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