referencebooks

Dictionary of Worldwide Gestures, Second Edition

By Betty J. Bäuml and Franz H. Bäuml.

Published by Scarecrow Press, 1997.

This is a 6" by 9" clothbound book running to 510 pages including the "index of significances" and the bibliography.

Reference books don't get much odder than this. This book provides brief descriptions of culture-bound physical gestures and a literary citation supporting each. The book is arranged first by body part or pair or group of body parts involved in the gestures (so that sections have headings like "Arm, Hand," "Finger, Tooth," and "Knee, Lip") and then, within each section, by the emotion or message communicated by the gesture. So, on page 230 we are in the section "Foot," looking at descriptions of gestures signifying embarrassment, emphasis, engagement (to be married), etiquette, fatigue, fear, femininity, "finished," greeting, and impatience. The entry for "femininity" says,

"Standing with feet close together and one toe pointed inward. Narrow stances are regarded universally as feminine. Axtell, Gestures, p. 109. See Masculinity.

The entry here (in the section "Foot") for "Etiquette" says,

Men rise from a sitting position in the presence of a lady. 13th cent. Germany. Kudrun, st. 342, 1. Messengers rise when delivering a message. 13th cent. Germany. Kudrun, st. 768, 1-2. * Clicking the heels together, accompanied by a slight bow [Editors' note: this was the rule for middle and upper class men before World War II to signify "at your service" and in greeting ladies and superiors]. Germany; Austria. It is no longer common, except in parody of Prussian manners. Axtell, Gestures, p. 109. In general, standing with heels together and toes pointing out at a slight angle suggests the military stance of attention and therefore suggests attentiveness and respect. Axtell, ibid.

The "index of significance" leads you from words for emotions or other messages to sections of the book by body part, and is useful.

The collection of information about gestures in this book is impressive, because there are so many and because so many are obscure or obsolete. However, it does seem to have some shortcomings. The organization of the book is such that you can't look up a gesture you've seen but don't understand by some classification of the motions involved; the farthest you can get is to the body parts and then a long list of significances. Another shortcoming is that it doesn't attempt to provide information on the cultural range of a gesture. Sometimes a country will be named in relation to a literary source cited for the meaning of a gesture when that gesture has a broader geographic and cultural extent. Also, there is no attempt to distinguish between gestures that are culture-bound and, in a sense, linguistic and gestures that represent deeper, animal-level expressions of emotion, which are universal.

Taken together it's a very interesting and odd book.