Chapter 9. Gestural mimesis as “as-if” action
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Cornelia Müller
Abstract
It is argued that gestural mimesis involves “as-if” actions that explain the transition from practical and literal actions with the hands to communicative actions of the hands. Concerning the term and the concept “pantomime,” it is suggested that it be primarily reserved for artistic practice and used for this type of communicative action only with great care. Given the fundamental role of mimesis to gestures (hand-gestures as well as full body gestures), it is proposed that gestures in general be conceived of as “mimetic expressive movements” – no matter whether they are used in the presence or absence of spoken or signed language. In order to underline the continuity between gestures created on the spot and conventionalized gestural forms, It is suggested to use the term miming or mimesis no matter whether gestures replace or accompany language. The chapter offers an introduction to the theoretical motivations and illustrates the empirical and methodological implications of this proposal. It first sketches three key aspects of an approach to gestures as mimetic expressive movements, then shows that mimesis grounds gestures with different communicative functions, illustrating its emergent productivity along the dynamics of different types of discourse and briefly touches upon dynamics in terms of historical change and how this affects the kinesics and the meaning of gestures. Finally, it is briefly indicated how conceiving of gestures as mimetic expressive movements affects the methodology for gesture analysis.
Abstract
It is argued that gestural mimesis involves “as-if” actions that explain the transition from practical and literal actions with the hands to communicative actions of the hands. Concerning the term and the concept “pantomime,” it is suggested that it be primarily reserved for artistic practice and used for this type of communicative action only with great care. Given the fundamental role of mimesis to gestures (hand-gestures as well as full body gestures), it is proposed that gestures in general be conceived of as “mimetic expressive movements” – no matter whether they are used in the presence or absence of spoken or signed language. In order to underline the continuity between gestures created on the spot and conventionalized gestural forms, It is suggested to use the term miming or mimesis no matter whether gestures replace or accompany language. The chapter offers an introduction to the theoretical motivations and illustrates the empirical and methodological implications of this proposal. It first sketches three key aspects of an approach to gestures as mimetic expressive movements, then shows that mimesis grounds gestures with different communicative functions, illustrating its emergent productivity along the dynamics of different types of discourse and briefly touches upon dynamics in terms of historical change and how this affects the kinesics and the meaning of gestures. Finally, it is briefly indicated how conceiving of gestures as mimetic expressive movements affects the methodology for gesture analysis.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction. Perspectives on pantomime 1
- Chapter 1. Pantomime within and beyond the evolution of language 16
- Chapter 2. The relations of demonstration and pantomime to causal reasoning and event cognition 58
- Chapter 3. Narrative and pantomime at the origin of language 78
- Chapter 4. Two types of bodily-mimetic communication 100
- Chapter 5. Can pantomime narrate? 115
- Chapter 6. The pantomimic origins of the narrative arts 139
- Chapter 7. The pantomime roots of Sao Tome and Principe Sign Language 159
- Chapter 8. Symbolic distancing in three-year-old children’s object-use pantomime 188
- Chapter 9. Gestural mimesis as “as-if” action 217
- Index 243
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction. Perspectives on pantomime 1
- Chapter 1. Pantomime within and beyond the evolution of language 16
- Chapter 2. The relations of demonstration and pantomime to causal reasoning and event cognition 58
- Chapter 3. Narrative and pantomime at the origin of language 78
- Chapter 4. Two types of bodily-mimetic communication 100
- Chapter 5. Can pantomime narrate? 115
- Chapter 6. The pantomimic origins of the narrative arts 139
- Chapter 7. The pantomime roots of Sao Tome and Principe Sign Language 159
- Chapter 8. Symbolic distancing in three-year-old children’s object-use pantomime 188
- Chapter 9. Gestural mimesis as “as-if” action 217
- Index 243
