Place of Performance: National Poetry Day, Graduate School of Education

Transcription

1 Title of poem: Home Performer s name: Richard Carter Date of Performance: 7 th October 2010 Place of Performance: National Poetry Day, Graduate School of Education Length: 02:21 Summary of Features Anthropomorphism Blending Eyegaze Handshape Neologism Symmetry Use of space Notes: Overview This is one of the six poems which are created around the theme of home for the 2010 National Poetry Day. In this poem, Richard Carter describes five important people who have shaped his life as a BSL poet. Translation I open my window, stick out my head and look up at a sky full of stars Something catches my eye A flickering, glimmering light drifts across in front of me, growing in size and shimmering before me It takes the form of a person who slowly floats towards me, stops and looks down at me

2 I look up and ask, "Who are you?" She looks down at me, "I'm your grandmother" "My grandmother? Who are you??" I ask again in confusion "I'm your poetry grandmother!" "You're my poetry grandmother? But WHO are you?" I ask again "I'm your poetry grandmother, I'm Dorothy Miles!" I look up at her: "Why have you come to see me?" "I have come to tell you that you will meet four important people involved in the Deaf community" "But who are these four people?" She looks down at me and smile, "The first person is Clark" "Clark? Who is that?" "Clark is your father of BSL" she tells me Oh... "and who's the second person?" I ask her "It's Frances" she says "Who's Frances?" I ask "She's your mother of linguistics!" she tells me Oh... "and the third person?" She looks at me, "It's Tessa!" Again, I ask, "But who is Tessa?" "She's your mother of sign language teaching methods!" OK... "So who is the fourth person, then?" "I don't know because I never met her" she explains The fourth person is a mystery, huh... And with that, Dot Miles sparkles and shimmers and slowly disappears into the night sky I close the sash window thoughtfully I am out walking when who comes up to me but Clark! He teaches me everything I know about BSL. Thank you! I carry on walking when who comes up to me but Frances! She gives me all she knows about sign language linguistics, about sign language structure, facial expression, so many different aspects of sign language, wow, Thank you! As I carry on walking, who comes up to me but Tessa! She teaches me how to become a sign language teacher, teaching people and seeing their language develop, Thank you! As I carry on walking, who comes up to me but, yes, an amazing person, it's Rachel! I have learnt from her analysis of sign language poetry and here I am today Rachel thank you, thank you!

3 Theme Each poet at the National Poetry Day took a different approach to the theme of home. Donna Williams My Home is My Castle talks about home as a safe physical dwelling; Paul Scott s Home experiments with the acronym of H- O- M- E; and John Wilson s Home tackles the notion of homeland for Deaf people. Richard Carter yet takes another perspective and focuses on the notion of family that is closely linked to home. The Deaf community is seen as a large family whose knowledge is passed on from one generation to the next. Richard makes his poem as homage to five people who have fostered his talent as a BSL signer, poet, and teacher: Dorothy ( Dot ) Miles (the pioneer of BSL poetry), Clark Denmark (BSL teacher, educator, and prominent figure in the British Deaf community), Frances Elton (BSL researcher who developed the first dictionary of BSL/English), Tessa Padden (an expert in developing BSL teaching skills) and Rachel Sutton- Spence (leading researcher in sign linguistics and sign language poetry). The poem can be divided into two parts. The first part is a dialogue between Richard and Dot Miles, who predicts his encounters with four important people. In the second half the poet is walking down the street and meets Clark, Frances, Tessa and Rachel (as predicted by Dot). These two parts are clearly contrasted. The first part has a dreamy, fairy- tale- like atmosphere. It is possibly after dark (suggested by lights in the sky) and the poet is inside his room, alone, and looking out of the window in a quiet manner. The second half, on the other hand, the poet is active and outgoing. The poet is walking briskly (presumably under daylight) and meeting and talking to people. Although all five people are equally important to Richard, Dot Miles is established as the primary character of the poem with whom he actually converses, whereas the other four do not come into the story (this counter- reflects the reality as Richard has met and talked to all but Dot who died in 1993). The last person, Rachel Sutton- Spence, is also given an extra weight as her identity is kept unknown until the last moment, leaving the audience to wonder who this person might be. She is the one who has directly influenced Richard s career as a poet (represented by the second to the last line in the poem: and here I am today ), and can be contrasted with the other three (Clark Denmark, Frances Elton and Tessa Padden) who laid foundations for the making of the poet by providing more general skills. Rachel is also the only hearing person among the five. Richard makes a clever use of repetition of three which is common in non- written literature. For example, Dorothy Miles reveals her identity in three stages while Richard repeats the same question three times ( Who are you? I m your grandmother Who are you? I m your grandmother of poetry Who are you? I m your grandmother of poetry, Dorothy Miles ). The first three people Dot introduces (Clark, Frances and Tessa) fit perfectly with this three- repetition scheme. The same dialogue is repeated for each of them ( Who is this? It s Clark/Frances/Tessa Who is Clark/Frances/Tessa? Your father/mother of BSL/linguistics/sign language teaching ). This builds up the expectation that it would be repeated for the fourth person. However, the story takes an unexpected turn at this point because Dorothy Miles cannot tell who the fourth person is because she never met him/her (the poet makes use of the fact that Dorothy Miles and Rachel

4 Sutton- Spence indeed never met). Rachel is formally, as well as thematically, foregrounded because she is outside this three- time repetition scheme. Poetic Features Anthropomorphism There is no instance of anthropomorphism in this poem. Blending There is no notable use of blending in this poem. Eyegaze The gaze shifts to the audience at 02:09. At this point Richard addresses the audience for the first time, as he confides to them that the fourth person is Rachel Sutton- Spence. Different gaze behaviours are used to mark a shift from the previous three encounters and the last encounter with the unknown fourth. Gaze on hands around 1:54 symbolically suggests Richard s awareness on the internal structures of sign language. Signers normally do not look down on their hands unless they are conscious about what they are signing (compare with his gaze at 1:52). A subtle shift in Richard s up- down gaze direction possibly symbolises the age gap between him and each figure, and different degrees of intimacy resulting from them. Dorothy Miles, whom he respects but never met, is placed high and as a result he looks up at her. His gaze is gradually lowered as he meets Clark, Frances and Tessa (his parent generation). With Rachel, his gaze becomes more or less level because she is closer to him in age. Handshape The 1 handshape (the index finger extended) is foregrounded in this poem. For example, the sequence that starts at 00:53 has a chain of six signs with the 1 handshape (WHY YOU COME/ YOU WIL L MEET ). Moreover, many important signs in this poem use the 1 handshape: WHO (Richard repeatedly asks the question of Who are you (is s/he)? ), WHY, MEET, PERSON (classifier), and DOT and RACHEL. Especially DOT and RACHEL, sign names for Dorothy Miles and Rachel Sutton- Spence, become a minimal pair (signs with the same handshape and a similar movement against different body parts). This visual rhyme allows the first and the last of the five people to echo with each other, adding a subtle but delightful extra effect to the poem. Neologism There are some instances of neologism when the poet describes how Dorothy Miles floats toward him, but overall there are not many productive signs in this poem. Each person is illustrated in

5 terms of what they have contributed to Richard s life, not through their visual appearances (which would normally be done in portraying a character in sign language poetry for example, see how Dorothy Miles described Clark Denmark in her poem The Staircase). Thus Richard mostly uses established signs. Symmetry Symmetric signs form the basis of the narrative, while one- handed signs stand out in the dialogue between Richard and Dorothy Miles. One- handed signs are also used to highlight the action of someone/something approaching the poet. Use of Space Left and right use of space in the second part produces good rhythm in the poem. But apart from that, there is not much significant use of space in this poem. Any Other Comment