Joana Pereira: Research on the importance of Deaf-led Signed Songs in the UK and Portugal

Happy March, readers of the Limping Chicken!

My name is Joana Pereira and from 2017 to 2021 I have conducted research on Deaf-led Signed Songs in BSL and LGP (Portuguese Sign Language) at University College London. I am a hearing signer from the Portuguese Deaf community. For the purposes of my study, I have lived in London, studied at University College London, learned BSL and met many, many people from the British Deaf community. Thank you so much for all of your help, friendship and support!

This study was developed with the Portuguese and the British Deaf communities, counting on many supporters in both countries. The research team members were myself and one Deaf co-researcher in each country (Max Barber in the UK, and Helena Carmo in Portugal).

Our goal was to understand the impact of this artform, when performed by Deaf artists, in the British and Portuguese societies, on hearing and deaf audience members. The literature section of the research covers theoretical grounds on Translation Studies, Performance Studies and Deaf Studies. It shows how Signed Songs can be a form of translation, a type of activist performance, a Deaf cultural product and also an intercultural artform, reaching both Deaf community members and outsiders.

The team interviewed three Deaf British artists and five Portuguese artists. We had in-depth discussions about the artists’ experiences, the feedback they receive from audiences, and their hopes for Signed Song as a cultural product. In the UK, we spoke to artists whose work is highly visible on British stages and who include BSL use in their performances: Colin Thomson, Caroline Parker, and Stephen Collins.

In Portugal, we interviewed the country’s first Deaf-led Signed Song group Mãos que Cantam (in English, ‘Singing Hands’). This group is made of five Deaf artists who work on the musical translation of songs into LGP, but also includes one hearing artist, a professional conductor who has learned with the Deaf group to work the music in a Deaf perspective. The group also has one designated Portuguese Sign Language Interpreter (Sofia Figueiredo) who accompanies the group in a variety of events.

We looked into the history of Signed Song in the two countries and established a timeline for each location. Here is a summary of what we found in the UK (blue means groups, green are individual Deaf artists, yellow are signed song events, and purple is musical theatre):

In Portugal, the origins of signed song are much more recent, as we can see below. Only dark green references are of Deaf artists; light-green are possible signed song events but which were non-confirmed, and grey references are initiatives by hearing artists.

Apart from speaking to the artists, and digging through archives to find historical information, we have also had 146 people in Portugal and the UK reply to a questionnaire on what they think and feel when attending a signed song event. The results of the study are available in BSL here:
Video in British Sign Language (BSL) / English text:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve4ZVhHhlas&t=2s

They are also available in Portuguese Sign Language (LGP), for those who would like to see a very different sign language, here:

Video in Portuguese Sign Language (LGP) / Portuguese text:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnDGgsqdRAI

Max, Helena and I sincerely hope that that this study inspires many more people from Deaf communities to research Deaf arts and literature!