Gesture: Visible Action as Utterance
by Adam Kendon
First published 2004
Gesture, or visible bodily action intimately involved in the
activity of speaking, has long fascinated scholars and laymen alike. Written by
a leading authority on the subject, this book draws on the analysis of everyday
conversations to demonstrate the varied role of gestures in the construction of
utterances. Publication of this definitive account of the topic marks a major
development in semiotics as well as in the emerging field of gesture studies. Adam
Kendon, zoologist and experimental psychology, worked on face-to-face
interaction, sign languages, and gesture becoming an authority on the subjects
and the history of their study. His observed how these nonverbal signals relate
to spoken language, his focus including work on Australian Aboriginal sign
languages. In developing a general framework for understanding gestures he was
able to apply the same rigorous semiotic analysis that had previously been
applied to spoken language. According to Kendon gestures are as important as
speech as a representative of meaning and has a place in the theories of
language origin. He developed a Gesture Continuum defining five different kinds
of gestures. In his analysis of everyday, conversations he demonstrated the varied
role of gestures and how they vary according to cultural and language
differences. Kendon’s analysis of conversation also showed how eye movements
affect the flow of conversation signalling turn-taking, including that people
look nearly twice as much when listening than speaking.