/View.info/ She looks like any other girl imitating the gestures of the rapping musicians near the stage. However, he actually translates their songs into sign language for the hearing impaired.
A recent appearance at the Bonnaroo festival in the US literally electrified the local audience, and then the Internet. Method Man himself, a member of the famous rap group Wu-Tang Clan, called the performance “dope” and came off the stage to hug her. However, Holly Manyati is not a rapper. And she is not a singer. She knows sign language and “translates” live rap and hip-hop songs during music festivals.
Manyati is extremely surprised by the sudden fame that has come her way. She has been in the industry for 13 years and during that time she has managed to fill an impressive CV, in which she has worked with the world’s top league – from Marilyn Manson and Melissa Etheridge to Bruce Springsteen and Sir Paul McCartney. However, she likes dirty and hard-to-swallow rap and si the most
is carving out its own niche
in him. This is something extraordinary because: firstly, rappers speak very fast, that is, the faster they are, the more popular they are among their fans; secondly, they often use complex metaphors, which also guarantee their success and betray their positions, but are difficult to translate because of their ambiguity; and thirdly, the worst – their freestyle, meaning a lot of improvisations in the lyrics.
What Holly translates is a nightmare for many, but for her it has become a passion and a pleasure. She is not intimidated by the tedious preparation (sometimes 50-80 hours to be able to participate in a 90-minute concert!). For this purpose, he watches videos, observes how the rappers handle the lyrics while their bodies move to the rhythm (sometimes they hunch over, sometimes they move energetically), and he observes the differences in the dialects of the sign language. Even details like the origin of the music are important, as slang words like “brother” look one way in sign language in New York and a completely different way in Atlanta.
Holly is even interested in the political leanings of rappers, since the same phrase uttered by one artist may sound neutral, but by another – sarcastic.
Dozens of small-looking things
must be analyzed in advance to make everything as genuine as possible. To be as faithful as possible to the presentation of the piece and the personality of the musician to his hearing impaired fans. This is undoubtedly Holly’s priority. When a journalist from a music magazine asks her if she is actually trying to become an “established” artist herself, Manyati replies: “Have you seen the fantasy thriller Ghost?” Remember the moment when the spirit entered Whoopi Goldberg? This is exactly the moment I want for myself. This is what I strive for in my work.”
Holly’s childhood was spent in Newport, Vermont. Since childhood, he has a tendency to learn languages. This is what prompted her to decide to enroll in a two-year course in American Sign Interpretation at the Rochester Institute of Technology and become a licensed interpreter. One day at the translation agency where Holly works, an order comes in for a Marilyn Manson concert. None of the colleagues wants to take on the task! However, Holly is tempted by the show Manson puts on on stage and decides to give it a try. And this concert was enough for him to be “infected” with the bacillus.
When translating the lyrics of hip-hop artists, there is another difficulty that cannot happen at the concerts of musicians like Springsteen or Paul McCartney – profanity. “In sign language, just like in any other language, there is swearing,” explains Holly. –
I don’t censor
my translations, for which I have been criticized more than once. It is remarkable, however, that there is not a single accusation from a fellow translator or from a hearing impaired person. As a translator, I have a moral obligation not to change the words I explain. Deaf people have the right to decide for themselves whether such words offend them, or rather they are indifferent to them. I have no right to take that opportunity away from them.”
Any concert performance for Holi is a huge effort. But also joy. “For me, it is the absolute pinnacle to be able to work in this way. After one of the performances, a deaf boy approached me and said: “You know, I was born deaf and I never understood why people love rap so much. But now I know.” And as a translator, I can’t imagine a greater reward than this,” said Holly.
In one of her interviews, Manyati says that the Bonnaroo festival, at which she was recognized as an “autonomous star”, offers complex services for people with various types and degrees of physical disabilities. Among the tens of thousands of spectators during the concert with her participation, there were perhaps only two or three deaf people. And it is to these two or three people that the organizers of the festival have guaranteed the possibility of full participation in the fun! You even want to ask: how much are we “in time with the world” from this point of view?
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