Edward Twitchell Hall, Jr. b, 1914
Edward T Hall was an American anthropologist, author and
cross-cultural researcher, best known for developing his concept of ‘proxemics’
(from proximity) and exploring cultural and social cohesion. Hall described how
people behave, interpret and react in different types of culturally defined
personal space (proxemics). He explained that we have five zones around us,
different distances and what we are comfortable experiencing within them, and
referenced the idea of context is imperative for interpreting nonverbal cues.
For example, the more self-assured, advantaged socioeconomically or
hierarchically, the more territory we demand and take up. Cultural roles and
social situations vary and thus impact differently on the amount of personal
space we require to feel comfortable. Hall showed us how cultural and
biological rules determine how you use space and communicate emotions.
Read The Silent Language (1959) Garden City, NY:
Doubleday.
