Patterns of performativity: Strategies by sign language interpreters and performers to translate songs into sign language

Abstract

The practice of interpreting music into sign language is gaining momentum but has received little attention from Translation Studies scholars. Recently, attempts have been made to provide a theoretical framework to analyse song signing from a Translation Studies perspective, and sign-language-interpreted music has been categorized as a “performative event”. This chapter is the outcome of hours of observation, of workshop attendance, and of interviews carried out with nine sign language interpreters working with different sign languages: Australian Sign Language, British Sign Language, Dutch Sign Language, and Italian Sign Language. Across languages and musical genres, I have identified what I call “patterns of performativity”, i.e. strategies employed by interpreter-performers to translate music into a performance art that is visual. The efficacy of these translation strategies, however, remains to be established by deaf signers..