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9 - Why we gesture (again)

from Part III - The last page

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2015

David McNeill
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
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Summary

We have found several answers to our question, why do we gesture? Speech is inseparable from gesture. Gesture orchestrates speech. For an individual speaker, embedded in context, his/her cognitive Being is a gesture–speech unity. Language is dynamic through a dialectic with gesture, and takes on life with it. Behind this dialectic, gesture has been in language at the start. At the origin, language was a unity of gesture and speech. If for some reason it is suppressed, the inner gesture, imagery in actional form, remains and leaks out though some other part of the body. Gesture takes Humboldt's Ergon—language viewed as structure—and as Energeia—language as an “embodied moment of meaning” (quoting Glick 1983) and fuses them. The effects are felt far beyond language and into every corner of life. I was tempted to embark on a rant against the computerization of Being, how it rests on assumptions this book disputes, but the topic belongs to another day. If ever I have the time, energy and inclination, I may try to write on it; but for now, we have reached the last page.

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Chapter
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Why We Gesture
The Surprising Role of Hand Movements in Communication
, pp. 187
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2015

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  • Why we gesture (again)
  • David McNeill, University of Chicago
  • Book: Why We Gesture
  • Online publication: 05 December 2015
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316480526.010
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  • Why we gesture (again)
  • David McNeill, University of Chicago
  • Book: Why We Gesture
  • Online publication: 05 December 2015
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316480526.010
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Why we gesture (again)
  • David McNeill, University of Chicago
  • Book: Why We Gesture
  • Online publication: 05 December 2015
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316480526.010
Available formats
×