Kusters The Paradox of International Sign

Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-1-80041-392-4
Verlag: Multilingual Matters
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 1, 368 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Deaf Studies and Sign Linguistics

Highly topical work raising uncomfortable questions about power, inequality, inclusion, representation and linguistic justice in contemporary global deaf spaces

International Sign (IS) is widely relied upon as a lingua franca of sign languages in international contexts, yet it remains one of the most debated and misunderstood forms of signed communication.

Through extensive multinational ethnographic fieldwork, this book explores the paradox of IS: it often works best when it remains open and fluid, yet it becomes visible, teachable, interpretable and institutionally useful only through processes that seek to define it.

Foregrounding deaf perspectives on language use, the book examines key dynamics of IS and traces how these are organised, evaluated and contested across informal and institutional settings. It includes visual vignettes, single-sign illustrations and links to ethnographic films created by the author allowing readers to engage with multimodal data in context and providing material for teaching and further research.

This book will be of particular interest to researchers and students in sign linguistics, deaf studies, interpreting studies, sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology as well as professionals working in deaf organisations, sign language interpreting, policy and media contexts.

This book is open access under a CC BY NC ND licence.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kusters, Annelies

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Mehrsprachigkeit
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Zeichensprachen, Künstliche Sprachen
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Übersetzungswissenschaft, Translatologie, Dolmetschen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Chapter 1. International Sign: Contradictions we Live with

Chapter 2. Regimenting: A History of IS

Chapter 3. Calibrating: Strategies in IS Interactions

Chapter 4. Orienting: Learning and Teaching IS

Chapter 5. Lumping and Splitting: One IS, or Many?

Chapter 6. IS on stage: Compromises of Understanding

Chapter 7. Interpreting IS: Choosing "Access", Shaping Choices

Chapter 8. Online IS: Signs of Influence

Chapter 9. The Paradox of Regimentation

References

Über Autor(innen)

Kusters, Annelies
Annelies Kusters is Professor of Sociolinguistics at Heriot-Watt University, UK. Her work explores International Sign and global deaf communication, sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, translanguaging, transnationalism and mobility, sign language media and deaf-led research methodologies.