Catchment, growth point and spatial metaphor: Analysing Derrida's oral discourse on deconstruction
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Jacques Montredon
Abstract
Based on a televised interview of the philosopher Jacques Derrida regarding his concept of deconstruction, this research explores the respective roles of image, speech, and gesture in the production of meaning. After having studied the linguistic characteristics of the interview in its entirety, the authors conduct a verbal and non-verbal analysis of a short excerpt, in which they examine: 1) the relevance of two recent conceptual tools developed by David McNeill et al. (1992 to present) – catchment and growth point – and 2) the use of Tuite’s schema (1993) to formalize speech production. At the end of the study, the authors propose a revised version of Tuite’s model, which integrates McNeill’s concepts of catchment and growth point. Their analysis clearly supports the hypothesis that image is influential in activating the whole process of speech production. However, the role of gesture remains unclear. Might gesture not also, and above all, be the scaffolding on which verbal production is based? The multimodal approach to Derrida’s speech presented here appears significant and revealing with regard to this question.
Abstract
Based on a televised interview of the philosopher Jacques Derrida regarding his concept of deconstruction, this research explores the respective roles of image, speech, and gesture in the production of meaning. After having studied the linguistic characteristics of the interview in its entirety, the authors conduct a verbal and non-verbal analysis of a short excerpt, in which they examine: 1) the relevance of two recent conceptual tools developed by David McNeill et al. (1992 to present) – catchment and growth point – and 2) the use of Tuite’s schema (1993) to formalize speech production. At the end of the study, the authors propose a revised version of Tuite’s model, which integrates McNeill’s concepts of catchment and growth point. Their analysis clearly supports the hypothesis that image is influential in activating the whole process of speech production. However, the role of gesture remains unclear. Might gesture not also, and above all, be the scaffolding on which verbal production is based? The multimodal approach to Derrida’s speech presented here appears significant and revealing with regard to this question.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
- Why study metaphor and gesture? 5
- From left to right...: Coverbal gestures and their symbolic use of space 27
- Gesture as a conceptual mapping tool 55
- A fresh look at the foundations of mathematics: Gesture and the psychological reality of conceptual metaphor 93
- Peircean semiotics meets conceptual metaphor: Iconic modes in gestural representations of grammar 115
- Unexpected metaphors 155
- Catchment, growth point and spatial metaphor: Analysing Derrida's oral discourse on deconstruction 171
- Form, meaning, and convention: A comparison of a metaphoric gesture with an emblem 195
- What gestures reveal about the nature of metaphor 219
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Commentaries on the value of studying metaphor and gesture from the perspectives of different disciplines
- Metaphoric gesture and cognitive linguistics 249
- Metaphoric gestures and cultural analysis 253
- Metaphor and gesture: A view from the microanalysis of interaction 259
- Implications of cognitive metaphor and gesture studies for Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis and vice versa 265
- Sign and gesture: Towards a new paradigm 273
- The study of metaphor and gesture: A critique from the perspective of semiotics 277
- The neuroscience of metaphoric gestures: Why they exist 283
- Metaphor and gesture: Some implications for psychology 291
- Index 303
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
- Why study metaphor and gesture? 5
- From left to right...: Coverbal gestures and their symbolic use of space 27
- Gesture as a conceptual mapping tool 55
- A fresh look at the foundations of mathematics: Gesture and the psychological reality of conceptual metaphor 93
- Peircean semiotics meets conceptual metaphor: Iconic modes in gestural representations of grammar 115
- Unexpected metaphors 155
- Catchment, growth point and spatial metaphor: Analysing Derrida's oral discourse on deconstruction 171
- Form, meaning, and convention: A comparison of a metaphoric gesture with an emblem 195
- What gestures reveal about the nature of metaphor 219
-
Commentaries on the value of studying metaphor and gesture from the perspectives of different disciplines
- Metaphoric gesture and cognitive linguistics 249
- Metaphoric gestures and cultural analysis 253
- Metaphor and gesture: A view from the microanalysis of interaction 259
- Implications of cognitive metaphor and gesture studies for Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis and vice versa 265
- Sign and gesture: Towards a new paradigm 273
- The study of metaphor and gesture: A critique from the perspective of semiotics 277
- The neuroscience of metaphoric gestures: Why they exist 283
- Metaphor and gesture: Some implications for psychology 291
- Index 303
