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Deaf Jam

cecilianorris's picture

I found this documentary really beautiful. Prior to this film I had not seen a lot of slam poetry, especially any deaf slam poetry. I looked up the definition of slam poetry and it is defined as "a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery." So something that got me thinking is the deaf poetry we have seen in class seem to be lively and active with a live audience, however, in the film it said that Aneta's idea of bringing slam poetry to the Deaf world was innovative and would be making history. So, I mean those videos could be after Aneta brought slam poetry to the Deaf world, but I was curious what the differences would look like between traditional poetry and slam poetry in the Deaf world. I really loved how Aneta and Tahini put aside their differences in their cultures, both religious and communicative, and worked together to make a beautiful piece of art. It's amazing how important, powerful figureheads, who are to some extent supposed to look up to, can't manage to get along and do this, however 2 young women who don't speak the same language, and represent cultures that have centuries of conflict with each other manage to get a along beautifully, work together, and create a piece about peace. 

For class on Thursday I would most like to discuss the editing genes article, then this movie, then Train Go Sorry. I think we have done a lot of work with Train Go Sorry, so it would be most interesting for me to discuss these other pieces, but to put it bluntly, I am down with anything.