UC Irvine

What may at first seem like an oxymoron, the combination of music, American Sign Language (ASL), and Deaf culture has evolved into a popular artform known as song signing. Song signing, which grows out of a long history of ASL storytelling practices, is akin to what musicologist Christopher Small terms musicking, turning the object-oriented, noun form of music into an active, process-based verb, employing visual, kinesthetic, and tactile methods of reception and participation. While song signing has become especially popular since the 21st century among both d/Deaf and hearing people, the latter has not gone without criticisms of inaccurate language use and cultural appropriation, at times overly concerned with verbatim translation and teaching. Turning my attention to performances and productions created either by or in collaboration with Deaf artists and performers in the United States, I am most interested in the various performative shifts that occur from the original source material to the new, Deaf musical performance, asking: In what ways does a d/Deaf musical performance perform sociocultural meanings about the Deaf community and Deaf identity? How does the musical integration and staging of ASL bolster the meanings of the original, hearing-created works? And how does this growing trend impact both d/Deaf and hearing worlds alike?

Building on scholarship in Deaf studies, disability studies, media studies, and theatre and performance studies, I apply close reading strategies to examples of song signing across television (at the Super Bowl, in television musicals, and on Sesame Street), music videos (by professionals and amateurs), and musical theatre (most notably, versions produced by Deaf West Theatre, as well as original sign language musicals). Contextualizing this work within what I describe as contemporary music and performance’s Deaf turn, this dissertation explores the sociocultural, historical, and political significances of d/Deaf musical performances on stage and screen. I analyze how d/Deaf forms of music are staged and made theatrical, attending especially to its dramaturgies, such as contexts, artistic intentions, narratives, and song and sign choices. In re-centering the labor, artistry, and voices of the Deaf community, I argue that Deaf-led song signing produces musical texts that are both highly artistic and accessible, not only fusing with the parameters of the given genre but also challenging and expanding the (predominantly hearing) forms with a Deaf aesthetics. In all, this project considers the ways in which d/Deaf musical performances subvert hearing-centric notions of music, affirm Deaf cultural identity and pride, and ultimately act as a bridge between hearing and Deaf worlds.