{"title":"Gesture and anthropology","authors":"A. Kendon","doi":"10.1075/gest.00041.ken","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n This essay is a (necessarily selective) historical review of some contributions to the study of gesture (in all its\n varieties) from an anthropological perspective. Reasons for an interest in gesture by the authors considered are varied. Some are interested\n because it seems a simpler form of communication which might throw light on language emergence, others see it as interesting as a form of\n communication in its own right. In the early days of ethnography attempts were made to describe all aspects of “primitive”or “savage” life\n and if gestures were noticed an attempt would be made to describe them. Later on, especially as we get into the second half of the twentieth\n century, much study of gesture was motivated by the idea that it might serve as a “window” on mental processes, rather than how it works in\n communication, but in recent years the role of gesture in communication has once again received more emphasis and its study from an\n anthropological viewpoint has, accordingly, again gained in importance.","PeriodicalId":35125,"journal":{"name":"Gesture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Gesture","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.00041.ken","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"N/A","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
This essay is a (necessarily selective) historical review of some contributions to the study of gesture (in all its
varieties) from an anthropological perspective. Reasons for an interest in gesture by the authors considered are varied. Some are interested
because it seems a simpler form of communication which might throw light on language emergence, others see it as interesting as a form of
communication in its own right. In the early days of ethnography attempts were made to describe all aspects of “primitive”or “savage” life
and if gestures were noticed an attempt would be made to describe them. Later on, especially as we get into the second half of the twentieth
century, much study of gesture was motivated by the idea that it might serve as a “window” on mental processes, rather than how it works in
communication, but in recent years the role of gesture in communication has once again received more emphasis and its study from an
anthropological viewpoint has, accordingly, again gained in importance.
期刊介绍:
Gesture publishes articles reporting original research, as well as survey and review articles, on all aspects of gesture. The journal aims to stimulate and facilitate scholarly communication between the different disciplines within which work on gesture is conducted. For this reason papers written in the spirit of cooperation between disciplines are especially encouraged. Topics may include, but are by no means limited to: the relationship between gesture and speech; the role gesture may play in communication in all the circumstances of social interaction, including conversations, the work-place or instructional settings; gesture and cognition; the development of gesture in children.