Talking Hands

Just recently, I've had the privilege of reading through Margalit Fox's Talking Hands. I've read quite a few books while I've been over here, some good, some bad, and some that barely make the category of literature. Fox's book is, ostensibly, about her experience observing linguists decoding sign language in a Beduin town in Palestine. What makes the language unique is that unlike most other part of the world, almost everyone speaks sign language in this town. This sign language was born out of necessity; the incidence of deafness in this community is quite high, relative to the worldwide average. Now perhaps you are someone who considers linguistic and academic pursuits to be dull and useless to you; I would certainly encourage you to think again about this book. Because the beautiful thing about it is that Fox has actually created a book that is really three books in one, a rather impressive feat, if I may say so myself. This is, naturally, her description of the linguistic fieldwork being accomplished, but this is merely part of the story as a whole. The chapters alternate between these scenic cultural and anecdotal portraits and discussions on what language is, and how the study of sign language helps us to understand how language works. In these areas, Fox is most informative. She presents a condensed, topical introduction into the field of linguistics. Having done some study in this area myself, I was already familiar with many of the ideas, but still, they are quite interesting. For anyone even slightly interested in learning more about the way we interact linguistically, I think that this book would be an excellent way to begin to get a grasp on linguistic topics. Naturally, Fox also gets into the history of sign language itself, the struggle for it to be recognized as a language, and the difficulties faced by both those who have instructed the deaf and those who do sign language. These three parts make for quite an interesting story, addressing some integral ideas behind discussions of what makes language. In many ways, we don't tend to consciously think about language; indeed, it is something that is so natural, as Fox explains, that we don't often need to give it a second thought. On the other hand, when we do take the time to ponder our linguistic interactions, we might just find out how really fascinating they are.