BMS1052 Lecture 4: BMS 1052 - Lecture 4
4 Sep 2018
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Gesture is: usually deemed to be an action by which a thought, feeling, or intention is given conventional and voluntary expression. (kendon, 1981, p. 28) Gestures may or may not be shared across cultures. Gestures mostly complement spoken language, but can develop into sophisticated language, used by the seeing and/or hearing impaired, or even those who have taken a vow of silence. We can position gestures (and communication more generally) within a social space (private/public). At extremes, compare how you indicate a desire to talk in: Putnam (2000) argues that there has been a shift in american social space in the last half century. Porch in front of home public open to visitors and spontaneity informal and formal language. Porch in back of home private visits planned and formalized generally suss and formal (including language) The distance people keep from other people is determined by culture, as you can see by these people waiting in line at an airport.
