This article is situated in the context of current research of deaf education, and it considers the current legislation and political recognition of the linguistic and cultural differences of deaf communities, in order to focus on the study of cultural productions of those groups. The main goal is to present an introductory study about the humor in Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), specifically some analysis of circulating jokes in deaf communities. Considering literature as an aesthetic object and as an intertextual construction, it is proposed to analyze a joke circulating in Libras, in five different versions. We concluded that humor emphasizes socially controversial themes and different versions of the joke Deaf Lion address the linguistic and cultural differences, the reversal looks through scenes that show the advantages of being Deaf, the communication with hearing people, as well as the sign language as determinant knowledge for the final (un)happy story. The unexpected end happens: the violinist is eaten, because the musical and auditory technique used to lions fall asleep does not work with a deaf lion. However, in one of the versions of that joke, when the violinist uses sign language, the deaf lion sleeps and the violinist's life is preserved due to the knowledge of sign language.
deaf literature; deaf humor; sign language; deaf
