Music for the Eye? An Ethnographic Study of Sign Choirs

How do deaf people sing together? What does their singing voice look like? This project is the first extensive scholarly investigation of sign choirs in German-speaking countries that mainly or exclusively consist of deaf people performing songs in sign language. The type of sign choir that this project focuses on is a specific group of (mostly) deaf people who perform signed art forms in worship services on a regular basis and on an amateur level. Most of the existing sign choirs in German-speaking countries are associated with particular deaf churches. This is most likely due to the fact that music, more precisely singing hymns, is an integral part of worship service. Other sign choirs that are not linked to deaf churches emerged out of school/college projects or stem from initiatives by (mostly hearing) people who want to provide musical experience to deaf people. This project explicitly focuses on church sign choirs led by deaf leaders and their signed performances, which are intended primarily for a deaf audience and performed only visually. This project will deal with six church sign choirs in Germany, three in Austria, and two in German-speaking Switzerland. Methods from multiple disciplines (ethnomusicology, deaf studies and sign language linguistics) are combined, with a focus on ethnographic fieldwork. I will attend the rehearsals of the sign choirs and their performances in and outside of worship services and participate in the musical and non-musical activities of each choir. Most importantly, this project relies on close collaboration with deaf participants and scholars. The primary language used in these (in)formal conversations and discussions will be sign language. Furthermore, the articles I plan to publish during the project will be available in both signed and written forms, in order to reach both deaf and hearing communities. The project aims to form a bridge between sign choirs at the national and international levels, fostering dialogue and exchange within deaf communities. Furthermore, this project will reveal the hidden discrimination faced by deaf people due to the predominant, hearing-centric understanding of music. Given the growing number of so-called inclusive music events featuring deaf performers, this project advocates rethinking these events, as hearing peoples music still often serves as the norm. This project aims to highlight the power imbalance between hearing and deaf artists caused by the sound-based definition and notion of music, and to bring about a paradigm shift in this issue.