Constructed action (CA) can be defined as adopting roles of different characters in a narrative (Cormier, Smith, and Sevcikova 2015). In multiple sign languages, CA is marked by the direction of...Show moreConstructed action (CA) can be defined as adopting roles of different characters in a narrative (Cormier, Smith, and Sevcikova 2015). In multiple sign languages, CA is marked by the direction of the body, facial expressions and signs marking the character’s perspective. Constructed dialogue (CD), quoting a certain character, is one of the forms of CA (Cormier, Smith, and Sevcikova 2015). This study will combine elements from Cormier, Smith, and Sevcikova’s work (2015), who used cartoon retellings to research CA in British Sign Language, and the study by Stec, Huiskes, and Redeker (2016), who used a corpus to investigate constructed dialogue in American English. The dataset for my study consists of 10 cartoon and fable retellings from the corpus NGT (Crasborn, Ros, and Zwitserlood 2008). I have selected these video fragments by searching the dataset for the verb ZEGGEN ‘say’ in the corpus NGT, because this is an indicator for a direct or indirect quote (Stec, Huiskes, and Redeker 2016, 5). This is a new method and has yielded many cases of CD. The selected clips already contain time-aligned glosses in ELAN, but I have added annotations concerning CA using the guidelines provided by Cormier, Smith, and Sevcikova (2015).Show less
Within sign language poetry there is a genre that has not been the subject of scientific research yet, even though it has been around for quite some time: visual vernacular. It differentiates...Show moreWithin sign language poetry there is a genre that has not been the subject of scientific research yet, even though it has been around for quite some time: visual vernacular. It differentiates itself from other types of sign language literature in that it hardly ever uses anything but iconic signs, and this is what makes it internationally comprehensible across sign language borders. It is even understandable to audiences who do not have any knowledge of a sign language. Besides iconic signs, it uses many cinematographic techniques such as role switching from and to different subject or objects within the story. Visual vernacular is different from another type of sign language literature called classifier stories mainly in that the latter uses sign language specific lexicon which visual verancular does not. Another similar form of art, this time outside the sign language realm, is pantomime, but this is different from visual vernacular in many ways, one of the most prominent of which is that pantomime performers are only the storyteller whereas visual vernacular performers swith between the storyteller, main protagonist and any other subject or object in the story. By making a literary overview and using a dataset of different types of visual vernacular stories, this thesis provides an inter and intra sign language poetry genre comparison.Show less
