WEBVTT

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NATIONAL STEREOTYPES
IN SIGN LANGUAGES

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Good afternoon, my topic is
national stereotypes in sign languages.

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My talk is a follow-up
to the morning session.

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As I'm going to talk about stereotypes,

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I would like to repeat the definition
discussed during the morning session.

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The definition tells us
what the meaning of a stereotype is.

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A stereotype is
a representation of an object,

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formed in a certain
shared empirical framework.

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It defines our perception of the object,
what the object is, what it looks like,

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what impression it makes
and how one treats it.

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It is entrenched in language and forms
part of our shared view of the world.

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Many designations we are going to use
are rather politically incorrect,

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so it is important to mention
another definition.

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This definition says:

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Stereotypes often betray more
about their authors

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than the persons or objects
that they relate to.

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This is an important definition
we have to bear in mind.

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As mentioned earlier, my topic is
national stereotypes in sign languages.

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But before we start discussing
stereotypes in sign languages,

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we need to use a spoken language
as our basis, specifically spoken Czech.

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We can think about stereotypes
in spoken Czech on two levels.

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The first one is a linguistic level,
by which I mean the structural level.

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This category consists of
designations and phraseology.

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The second one is a textual level,
or the discourse level.

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We can see examples of these stereotypes
in advertisement, folklore,

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belles-lettres and other texts.
All these fall into the discourse level.

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As I have mentioned before,
first I would like to address

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designations in sign languages,
using the model for spoken languages.

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Mrs. Filipiová created
a basic classification of designations.

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It was made for spoken languages,
specifically for spoken Czech.

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She created 5 different groups
and I will go through all of them.

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The first group comprises
unmarked word forms, or neutral words.

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These designations do not have
any positive or negative connotations.

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An example in spoken Czech
is the word N?mec.

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For English translation ("German")
please look at the slide behind me.

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The second group consists of
marked word forms.

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These designations are derivatives
of neutral ethnonyms.

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These words relate to the neutral form
as they are derived from it

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but they are marked. An example in Czech
is the word N?m?our ("Jerry").

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You can see that it is a derivative,

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some morphemes change and this alone
makes the word marked.

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In spoken English, we can use
the word "Jerry" as an example.

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Again, the designation is marked.
You can see the example at the slide.

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The third group are designations
that originally used to be unmarked.

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They used to be neutral.
Yet these words are often archaic,

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so nowadays they contain
a secondarily marked meaning.

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An example in spoken Czech is
the word Germán, or "Hun" in English.

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These designations used to be unmarked
in this context, now they are marked.

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The fourth group are ethnonyms
not derived from the unmarked form.

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This means that these designations
were not derived from a neutral word.

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In spoken Czech, we can use for example
the word Skop?ák ("Kraut").

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None of these words is derived
from a neutral unmarked form.

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The fifth group comprises
phonically expressive ethnonyms.

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They consist of unusual
phoneme clusters.

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An example in Czech is the word
Doj?ák ("Fritz/Heinie/Jerry").

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This designation expresses emotions
because it is marked in this way.

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I am not sure how to translate it
into English, the slide shows 3 words.

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I am using Czech as a base language,
we are discussing Czech classification.

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Therefore, it is not always possible
to find a correct term in English.

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In order to discuss these designations
in the Czech Sign Language

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we have to divide the first group
into two subcategories.

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An example of neutral word form in CzSL
is this sign for N?mec ("German").

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N?mec ("German"),
this is an unmarked sign in CzSL.

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The second group are marked derivatives.

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These signs are marked, they contain
a certain evaluation, e.g.this sign.

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As you can see, this minor modification
of a sign adds some subjectivity.

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A simple modification in one parameter
makes the sign marked, not neutral.

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The third group are synonyms.

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These signs have no relation
to the neutral designation.

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They comprise different possibilities
of expressing the sign, e.g. this sign.

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As you can see, this sign has no link
to the sign N?mec I showed before.

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This is the case of a synonym,
a completely different sign form.

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We can include one more group
in the classification of sign languages

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but we will not use this one
in our discussion about stereotypes.

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This group comprises borrowed signs
from other sign languages.

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I am now going to discuss
the situation of CzSL.

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We have to divide the first group
of unmarked signs into two subgroups.

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The signs belong to a subgroup depending
on their relation to spoken language.

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Signs are either linked to spoken words
or not. E.g. this initialization sign.

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The sign for Latvia.
I will repeat it one more time: Latvia.

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You can see the letter "L"
referring to the spoken word.

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Another example is the sign for Norway.

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This sign contains the initial "N",
incorporated from the finger alphabet.

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Therefore, this sign is again
related to the spoken language.

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There is also a second subgroup of signs
related to the spoken language.

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This subgroup comprises calques,
or literal translations, from Czech.

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An example from CzSL
is the sign for Dán ("Dane").

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The sign has the same form
as the sign for da? ("tax").

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So the Czech word da? is translated
into CzSL with the same sign as Dán.

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Another example is
Novozélan?an ("New Zealander").

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The sign consists of the sign for "new"
with "Z" from the finger alphabet.

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We are still talking about
the first group: neutral signs.

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I will now discuss the subgroup of signs
with no relation to the spoken language.

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We can divide it into 3 categories.

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The first category refers to
the flag of the designated nation.

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E.g. the sign for the Swiss
is inspired by the Swiss flag.

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You can see the picture on the slide.
The sign looks like this.

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So the sign is inspired by the flag.

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Another category of the neutral
unmarked sign forms consists of signs

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referring to the shape of
a particular country on the map,

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to what its territory looks like.
E.g. the sign for Italians.

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The sign is visually motivated by
the territory shape shown on the map.

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I am not sure if it is relevant
to consider these 2 categories

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because they do not say much about
the people of the specific nation,

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what they look like or how they behave.

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For our purpose, the third category
might be the most interesting one.

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This category refers to the culture
or appearance of the local people.

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We are talking about
cultural-visual phenomena.

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You can e.g. consider what the locals
are like and what is said about them.

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In the next step, you can find signs
referring to those personality traits.

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E.g. this is the sign for a Spaniard.

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It refers to the Spaniards
being famous bullfighters.

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They hold a cloth and the sign refers
to the movement of the cloth.

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The sign in fact tells us
what the people of the nation are like.

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Another example from this group
is the sign for a German.

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Why does the CzSL sign look like this?

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The Deaf consider Germans as people
who talk a lot, who use a lot of words.

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The sign therefore refers to speaking.

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The reason may be the said German trait

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but also the strong German tradition of
the oral approach to Deaf education.

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Another sign referring to the nation's
activities is the sign for Irishmen.

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The sign refers to the Irishmen
as the nation playing the harp.

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Irishmen are considered musicians and,
therefore, this is the sign for them.

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The next group of signs refers
to the behaviour of these people

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or what we consider them to be like.

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E.g. Russians are considered to be
heavy drinkers, hence their red noses.

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This is the sign in CzSL.

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It refers to the alcoholic red nose.

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The third group contains signs
referring to the people's clothing.

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This is the sign for Slovaks.

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The sign for a Slovak
refers to the hat on his head.

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So one more time, this is
the sign for Slovaks.

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And it refers to their hats.

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I'll give you a second example:
the sign for a Korean.

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Again, it refers to headwear.

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Another example
is the sign for a Peruvian.

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It refers to a noticeable object which
American Indians put in their hair.

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Another example is
the sign for a Mexican.

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Mexicans have
a national costume with braces.

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So the sign for Mexicans refers
to this typical piece of clothing.

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The fourth group consists of signs
referring to what the people look like.

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Just a moment, I will show again
the signs for the Dutch and Koreans.

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I'm sorry, I skipped
something in my slide.

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I didn't show you an example
of the Dutch but of Koreans.

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I will repeat it one more time,
this is the sign for Slovaks.

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This is the sign for Koreans.

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Sorry, this is the sign for Koreans.

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The third one is the sign for the Dutch,
the fourth one for Peruvians.

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And the last one for Mexicans.
Hopefully, it's clear now.

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The fourth group consists of signs
referring to what the people look like.

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For example the sign for
the Chinese used to look like this.

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This sign referred to slanted eyes.

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Today, the old sign is no longer used,
this new sign is used instead.

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Another sign referring to the appearance
of the people is one for Bulgarians.

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It refers to the moustache
often worn in Bulgaria.

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The sign for Mongolians then
refers to their wide eyebrows.

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I've now told you all about
the group a) - unmarked sign forms.

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We'll now move to the next group: b).

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We'll discuss marked sign forms.

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The signs are modified in one parameter:
handshape, location or movement.

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I have a very nice example for you.
I've shown you the sign for Slovaks.

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I don't want to offend anybody.
I'm only using signs from real language.

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In our material, we found this
marked sign form for Slovakia.

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Sometimes it has
this gesture incorporated in it.

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Because a few years ago,
this happened in Slovakia:

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Slovaks hosted
an important sporting event.

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They failed to do it correctly.

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So the sign refers to some people's
dissatisfaction with their work.

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Later, when Slovaks failed to host
the Olympics and embezzled the funds,

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the sign was reintroduced
among the Czech Deaf.

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The sign contains negative evaluation
of Slovaks and of what happened.

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I will show you not only the approach
of the Czech Deaf towards Slovaks

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but also which sign
the Slovak Deaf use for Czechs.

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This is the neutral sign for Czechs
in Slovak sign language.

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Yet Slovaks had the impression
that Czechs live in better conditions

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and they are thus somewhat arrogant.

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So they moved the place of
articulation more towards the nose.

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The sign contains an element of mockery.

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This is again an example of a sign
which is no longer neutral

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due to the change of one parameter.
It becomes a marked sign.

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This was the group b) and now
we'll move to the group c).

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These signs are not derived from
the unmarked form, they are synonyms.

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They are variants with the same meaning.

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I'm sorry, I'll be using
signs for Germans.

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We collected this material
among elderly Deaf.

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And the signs are linked to
WW2 and Nazism.

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So I apologize to all Germans in here,
it's nothing against you.

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These are the signs for Germans
used by elderly Czech Deaf.

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They refer to SS and to Nazism.

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Other signs for
Germans looked like this.

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And again, they referred to
the gesture used by the Nazi.

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The young generation of the Czech Deaf
also uses special signs for Germans.

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They use this sign for Germans,
it means a cochlear implant in CzSL.

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It is because cochlear implantation
has been widely used in Germany.

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So young Czech Deaf use the same sign
for Germans and for a cochlear implant.

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They also use a sign referring to
the oral approach to Deaf education.

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And they use it as a sign for Germans.

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I have shown you all my examples.

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And I'm looking forward to the workshop
where we'll discuss this topic.

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Just a few questions
as food for thought:

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Are national stereotypes used in CzSL
only relevant in the Czech context?

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Or are they used internationally?

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What is its impact on the Deaf community
here and what is the global impact?

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Thank you for your attention.
I'm looking forward to the workshop.