Feeling your own (or someone else's) face: Writing signs from the expressive viewpoint

SignWriting (SW), a featural writing system that iconically represents the moving body, was originally written from the receptive viewpoint but is now typically written from the embodied viewpoint of a signer. Through this shift, SW was re-envisioned from a writing system that focused on the receptive visual modality of sign languages (what others see), to one that visually highlights the phenomenological experience of signing (what a signer feels). This article analyzes ideological framings of SW literacy events in which users interpret or produce SW texts reflecting another signer's embodied perspective. In so doing, many SignWriters consider whether and how the qualia that characterize the phenomenological experience of signing can be intersubjectively shared among differently positioned interactants. •SignWriting (SW), a movement writing system, is typically written from the embodied viewpoint of the signer.•TRather than focus on the receptive visual modality of signing, SW highlights the phenomenological experience of the signer.•Writers often interpret or produce SW texts written from another signer’s embodied perspective.•This article considers the ideological framings and effects of these practices.