Between Wings and Hands: Anthropomorphism in Children's Literature in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4025/actascilangcult.v48.i2.80042Keywords:
embodiment; performativity; literary translation; Deaf culture; visual language.Abstract
Anthropomorphism, understood as the attribution of human characteristics to non-human beings, is present across all cultures and also manifests in sign languages. This article examines the use of anthropomorphism in children’s literature in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language), focusing on the accessible audiovisual translation of O Patinho Surdo (The Deaf Duckling, Rosa & Karnopp, 2005), produced within the university extension project Cada Encontro eu Conto um Conto (Each Encounter I Tell a Tale). Adopting a qualitative and descriptive approach, and grounded in authors such as Sutton-Spence and Napoli (2010, 2014), Mattos (2013), and Bahan (2006), the study aims to identify and describe the translational and performative strategies that reveal anthropomorphic features in signed narratives. The corpus comprises the shot-by-shot analysis of scenes from the Libras translation, focusing on the use of classifiers, non-manual signals, facial expressiveness, and bodily incorporation of characters. The results indicate that anthropomorphic signing not only adapts the original text to the visual specificity of Libras but also enhances its symbolic, aesthetic, and identity dimensions. It is concluded that the translator’s body plays a central role in narrative construction, becoming the site of character embodiment and the expression of both human and Deaf experiences. In this context, anthropomorphism emerges as a resource for cultural mediation and for the appreciation of linguistic diversity.
Downloads
References
Albres, N. A., Ambrozio, A. N., Alencar, S. C., & Nascimento, V. A. (2018). Quando o corpo dá vida aos objetos: antropomorfismo na tradução para a Língua Brasileira de Sinais. Revista Sinalizar, 3(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.5216/rs.v3i1.52049
Bahan, B. (2006). Face-to-face tradition in the American Deaf community. In H.-D. Bauman, J. L. Nelson, & H. Rose (Eds.), Signing the body poetic (pp. 83-97). University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520935914-007
Carroll, L. (2007). Alice para crianças (C. R. Ramos, Trad.). Arara Azul.
Epley, N., Waytz, A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2007). On seeing human: A three-factor theory of anthropomorphism. Psychological Review, 114(4), 864-886. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.114.4.864
Mattos, A. A. J. (2013). Antropomorfismo na cultura da animação [Dissertação de mestrado, Universidade Federal Fluminense]. https://www.artes.uff.br/dissertacoes/2013/alexandre-juruena.pdf
Rosa, F., & Karnopp, L. B. (2005). Patinho surdo. ULBRA.
Sutton-Spence, R., & Napoli, D. J. (2010). Anthropomorphism in sign languages: A look at poetry and storytelling with a focus on British Sign Language. Sign Language Studies, 10(4), 442-475. https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.0.0055
Schlemper, M. D. S., & Albres, N. A. (2023). Marcas culturais ideológicas-discursivas em obras da literatura surda escritas: Experiências de vidas surdas. Gláuks – Revista de Letras e Artes, 23(2), 23-46. https://doi.org/10.47677/gluks.v23i2.390
Schlemper, M. D. S. (2016). O uso do antropomorfismo e do animismo na literatura infantil em Libras: Analisando as ocorrências na tradução do conto Alice para crianças. In Anais do Enelin 2015. Universidade do Vale do Sapucaí. https://pos.univas.edu.br/ppgcl/menu/anais.asp
Wan, E. W., & Chen, R. P. (2021). Anthropomorphism and object attachment. Current Opinion in Psychology, 39, 88-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.08.009
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Michelle Duarte da Silva Schlemper
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY AND COPYRIGHTS
I Declare that current article is original and has not been submitted for publication, in part or in whole, to any other national or international journal.
The copyrights belong exclusively to the authors. Published content is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) guidelines, which allows sharing (copy and distribution of the material in any medium or format) and adaptation (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, even commercially, under the terms of attribution.
Read this link for further information on how to use CC BY 4.0 properly.
How to Cite
