Signed Language Interpreting in Brazil:

Brazilian Sign Language Deaf-Translation Performance: Descriptive Concepts and Approaches to Procedures Led by Deaf Translator-Actors

21 Brazilian Sign Language Deaf-Translation Performance: Descriptive Concepts and Approaches to Procedures Led by Deaf Translator-Actors Ronice Müller de Quadros, Saulo Xavier de Souza, and Rimar Ramalho Segala In light of the research (cf. Ferreira-Brito, 1995; Quadros, 1997; Quadros & Karnopp, 2004), it is clear that the linguistic status of Brazilian Sign Language is being substantiated. Linguistic scholars are now recognizing sign languages from different countries as natural languages that display the requisite properties of all human languages . Concomitant with findings in the academic community, deaf people from various countries have organized themselves through representative institutions with the common aim of convincing governmental authorities that sign languages are integral to social groups the world over. In Brazil, this role has been played by the National Federation for Education and Integration of the Deaf (FENEIS). For the last twenty years, FENEIS, representing the Brazilian deaf-social movement, has focused its efforts on securing official recognition of Brazilian Sign Language, Libras. This process culminated in 2002 with Brazilian federal law number 10.436, known as the Libras Law, which is regulated by decree 5.626, of December 2005. The Libras Law recognizes Brazilian Sign Language as the language of the Brazilian Deaf and has given members of the Deaf community their own linguistic rights, including access to education in their own language. 22 : Q u a d r o s , S o u z a , a n d S e g a l a One result of decree 5.626 is the undergraduate program in Brazilian Sign Language and Literature (Letras Libras), which opened at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). It is the first undergraduate program in Brazil to also offer Libras as an e-learning modality. Letras Libras students will receive recognition from UFSC and will be qualified to teach Brazilian Sign Language in any educational setting. The purpose of the program is to train professionals who are able to use sign language as a first language when teaching Deaf students and as a second language when teaching hearing students. The e-learning modality aims to increase access to this course and to the resulting opportunities. This means that people from different regions of Brazil now have an opportunity to receive professional Libras teaching credentials for both pedagogical and technical skills. In recent decades this program has been working in conjunction with Brazil’s affirmative action program to achieve social inclusion. The instructional language of the Letras Libras program is Libras, and all of the course materials are produced in Libras. However, the texts that are used to underpin the program contents are in written Portuguese. This means it is necessary to translate the course materials from written form to signed form. This translation procedure is unique in the sense that it requires transferring text printed on a page to text whose content is expressed via the articulators of a sign language. This study presents an overview of Libras translation performances and describes concepts and approaches to translation utilized by Brazilian Deaf translator-actors. We begin by presenting the conceptual orientation of translation into sign language adopted by the team of Deaf translatoractors in the Libras program and some specific aspects of the languages involved in the translation procedure. Then we describe the translation procedures conducted by the same professional team. Next we reflect critically on the Deaf translators’ translations in Letras Libras and the effects of their presence on the translation of the program’s course materials . We then summarize and mention further propositions suggested by Quadros and Souza (2008). TRANSLATION INTO SIGN LANGUAGE In the Deaf World, translation occupies a central place since it is the way deaf people communicate with hearing people (Vasconcellos, 2008, p. 1). Many people believe that the term “translation” simply Brazilian Sign Language Deaf-Translation Performance : 23 refers to converting messages from one language into another. However, the term actually encompasses concepts that are more profound and comprehensive; a careful look at the term and its implications is needed in order to fully grasp the breadth of the meaning. The history of translation theory is a long one. While many authors and translators refer to various theories in support of producing good translations, many reject “word for word” translation. Hence, over the long history of translation theory, concepts have been modified, but we still need a definitive definition of “translation.” In order to formulate one, let us...