Abstract: Bilingual education for the deaf is always necessary. This text discusses sign languages since antiquity, passing through researchers in different times and countries. The recognition of deaf cultural and historical heritage contributes to the formation of deaf identities. Is it possible to say that Berthier and Bébian, French teachers of the 19th century, contributed to sign languages becoming an identity mark? What was the work performed by Huet in Brazil and Le Clerc in the nited States? Moreover, why are French, Brazilian, and American sign languages similar? This article aims to disclose the actions that preceded William C. Stokoe in the construction of sign languages such as the work perpetrated by Berthier, who was deaf, and Bébian, first hearing teacher at the Institute of Deaf-Mute in Paris, who was bilingual, giving classes in sign language, at that time called mimicry. Historical research will be the method to achieve this goal. The work of Bébian "Mimographie or Essai d’écriture mimique, propre a régulariser le langue des sourds-muets" (1825) will be analyzed. It was the first attempt to graphically register sign language. Psychologists and philosophers, by the end of 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, analyzed the evolution of the term, from mimicry to polyglossy, and, finally, sign language. Some plates of Bebian’s Mimography will be shown and analyzed in this paper, concluding to emphasize that French sign language had a proper grammar, differing from spoken French. Recognizing the efforts of these researchers as forerunners of the fundamentals of sign languages enhances Stokoe’s linguistic research.
Keywords: Sign Language, Roch-Ambroise Auguste Bébian, Mimography, Sign Writing
To cite this article:
Aline Lima da Silveira Lage, Celeste Azulay Kelman. Mimography or Sign Language Trails as Cultural Heritage. Education Journal. Vol. 10, No. 6, 2021, pp. 258-267. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20211006.17
Received: October 11, 2021; Accepted: November 22, 2021; Published: November 29, 2021
