Glasgow University Media GroupA B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWMorris in Manwatching: A Field Guide to
Human Behaviour (Jonathan Cape, 1977) off ers
six categories of gesture: (1) Expressive; shared by
other animals as well as humans, and including
facial expression and manual gesticulations. (2)
Mimic gestures; exclusively human; ‘the essential
quality of a Mimic Gesture is that it attempts
to copy the thing it is trying to portray’. Th is
category Morris subdivides into social mimicry
(or ‘putting on a good face’); theatrical mimicry;
partial mimicry (pretending your hand is a
gun, for example); and what he terms vacuum
mimicry – gestures to indicate hunger or thirst.
(3) Schematic gestures are those in which imita-
tions become abbreviated or abridged; a gestural
shorthand. (4) Symbolic gestures represent
moods and ideas, such as the sign to indicate
that you consider someone is ‘round the twist’.
(5) Technical gestures constitute specialized
signal systems recognized only by those in the
trade or profession, such as those employed
by a TV studio manager or a fireman to his
colleagues. (6) Coded gestures are based upon
formal systems, such as Deaf-and-Dumb Sign
Language, Semaphore and the tic-tac signalling
of the race-course.
Many gestures carry universal meaning, but in
general the meaning of a gesture is dependent
upon cultural context, timing and situation
as well as other acts of verbal and non-verbal
communication. Gestures are not often used
in isolation. Th e meaning of a gesture can vary
considerably across cultures; Morris (2002)
uses the term ‘multi-message gestures’ for such
gestures. An example here is the ‘thumbs-up’
gesture mentioned earlier. In Britain this means
that things are going well; in Australia, however,
it means ‘up yours’. As Roger E. Axel reminds
us in Gestures: The Do’s and Taboos of Body
Language Around the World (John Wiley & Sons
Inc., 1998), gestures should be used with care
in unfamiliar cultures. See barrier signals;
baton signals; communication, non-
verbal; cut-off; gestural echo; metasig-
nals; non-verbal behaviour: repertoire;
proxemics; salutation display; shortfall
signals; tie-signs. See also topic guide
under interpersonal communication.
▶Allan and Barbara Pease, The Definitive Book of
Body Laguage (Orion, 2004).
Ghost-writer One who does literary work for
someone else, usually a celebrity, who takes the
credit.
Glasgow University Media Group Set up with
a grant from the UK Social Science Research
Council, the Group has published researchadvocate of semiology/semiotics would argue
that meaning is of the essence. See topic guide
under communication models.
Gestural dance Term describing the way in
which gestures are employed to achieve inter-
actional synchrony (similar timing) between
participants in an encounter. For example, the
smooth handing-over of the conversational
fl oor from speaker to listener is achieved by a
combination of prolonged gaze, falling intona-
tion, returning of the hands to a rest position
and possibly the use of a gesture towards the
listener to invite a contribution. Th e listener may
have indicated a wish to speak by the use of rapid
head nods.
Gestural echo See posture.
Gesture Several diff erent parts of the body may be
used to make gestures – most typically the arms,
feet, hands and head; head nods are usually
classed as a gesture. Desmond Morris in People
Watching (Vintage, 2002) notes that gestures
can be ‘Primary’ or ‘Incidental’ as regards their
communicative intent. ‘Primary’ gestures are
those intended to communicate a message, such
as pointing to the location of a shop when giving
directions, whereas ‘Incidental’ gestures occur
for non-communicative reasons: for example an
individual may wink if he/she gets grit in their
eye. To an observer, however, the wink may be
interpreted as an intended act of communica-
tion: a message signalling a desire to interact.
Michael Argyle in Bodily Communication
(Methuen, 1988) divides gestures and bodily
movements into three main categories: Emblems,
Illustrators and Self-touching. Emblems are
movements, often hand movements, that can
easily be translated into speech in terms of their
meaning (they may stand in for speech) within a
particular group or culture. Th e use, in Britain,
of the thumbs-up gesture would be an example.
Illustrators are those gestures used to illustrate or
accompany speech, often to aid explanation – for
example gestures used when giving directions.
Gestures can be used to regulate everyday inter-
action and to provide feedback; waving to a friend
may indicate a desire to start a conversation, and
during a conversation the listener may use rapid
head nods to show agreement with the speaker’s
comments. Self-touching normally indicates
information about an individual’s emotional state,
such as the scratching of a face when anxious,
but can also be used in displays of courtship
and grooming. Morris (2002) argues that self-
touching can also be a displacement activity; for
example a nervous passenger about to board a
plane may frequently tug his/her earlobe.