Sign Language, Performance, and Identity

The article presents an introduction to issues of Deaf identity, especially in relation to performance in Bible translation into sign languages. Deaf people become visible as Deaf at the moment they start to speak their language. The communicative performance of sign language is what gives them their identity as Deaf persons. In an intersemiotic translation, the translator-signer presents three visible layers of identities: one is him- or herself as a Deaf person, the other two are the narrator and the characters represented in the text. To achieve an acceptable translation, the translator must choose the most relevant strategies regarding these identities; otherwise, the translation becomes vulnerable to the criticism of the Deaf community because, in the translation, the first of these identities is visibly attached to the signer’s own personal identity, including his or her physical appearance and ethical behavior.