M404  

Body Language

non-linguistic signs 

Paul Crowther states that language is the 'highest' function of our sensory motor capacities relating to otherness. [i] This contrasts strangely with the concept of 'body language', which must be the 'lowest' form of communication altogether, since it is shared by many life forms; including insects, if the dance of honey bees is admitted to the category.

Ignoring the bees for now, 'body language' could be described as a universal trait among mammals, in the form of automatic bodily reactions such as fear, intentional bodily communications to achieve goals, and as the ability to interpret the body language of others.  Further, this trait must be innate, because if it were not we would have to assume that animals develop culture, and our culture only provides the two options of innate or cultural for such traits. 

The term body language may be misleading however, and rather than conceiving of an 'innate language', a better term might be 'representation of emotion'.  Body language could alternatively be described as a 'phenomenological reciprocity' since it is either an intentional expression meant to affect the other, or an involuntary expression in response to the other.  The anatomical area of the brain that equates to these emotional activities is collectively called the Limbic System.  It is evolutionarily primitive, and shared by other mammals such as cats, dog, horses and mice, allowing us to relate to these animals on a non-verbal, non-linguistic level.[ii]

As a farmer I frequently witnessed animal body language, and because of a tendency to underestimate animals it never ceased to amaze me.  I have watched bulls posturing, snorting and stamping, and churning up a dust on either side of a flimsy wire fence that they seemed to have no intention of destroying, since this was a territorial boundary that they each defended with no wish to actually engage.  I have observed cows support the 'home side' bull in this activity, by rubbing their faces in mud from the creek bank, wearing it like war paint, and bellowing and posturing by his side while other females from the same mob (but different property origins) stood by and watched in apparent wonder.  I have watched a lone sheep turn to a quivering wreck in the middle of a paddock, completely under the thrall of a working dog's 'eye', controlled absolutely by the slightest sway or turn of the dog's crouched body, with no physical contact at all.

I have seen a young female cat walk out from her litter of kittens to sit calmly on the edge of the veranda, tail curled, facing a fox that was about to invade her nest.  And the fox, previously boldly hunting in broad daylight, read her body language, became hesitant, and slunk away.  I have caused bulls and aggressive dogs to back off or run away from my own threatening body language and growling tone of voice.

Both humans and animals use body language intentionally to communicate and to achieve goals.  But in the case of humans, body language spills into our linguistics, our 'highest' function of sensory motor capacities, and must therefore be cultural as well as innate.  Umberto Eco is quoted by Danesi and Perron as defining the science of semiotics as 'the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie,' because if 'something cannot be used to tell a lie, conversely it cannot be used to tell the truth; it cannot, in fact, be used to tell at all.'[iii]  Humans are able to use body language to tell lies, which would indicate that human body language can be included in the study of semiotics.  It is possible to appear confident, or sincere when one is not, for example.  Body language can also be unconsciously cultural, as when gestures become culturally specific.  These integrate with cultural behaviour and language, as for example in forms of greeting.  Some people press noses together whilst others kiss on both cheeks.  Others may dip their head, or bow from the waist.   Smiling patterns vary greatly, from the seemingly ingratiating excess of some cultures, to the solemn and unsmiling reserve of others.

Human body language must therefore be cultural and emotional.  We read and produce it linguistically, along with all our other cultural signs such as clothes, cars, spoken accents, leisure or work accoutrements.  We also read and produce it emotionally, as others, including animals, read and respond to our own; and we read and produce it both consciously and unconsciously.

Art can be seen as somehow related to body language and linguistics, since visual art is constructed from similar types of elements.  In a similar way, through its formal aspects and its symbolic referents, artists provide both intentional and unconscious representations, for viewers to receive and read.  Paul Crowther describes art as a 'symbolically significant sensory manifold'.  It is 'Symbolically significant' in the sense either of being representational (referring to some aspect of the world other than itself) or of having 'culturally established associations' (in terms of moods or emotions, analogies of gesture or action); and it is a 'sensuous manifold' in terms of 'complex wholes which are present to the senses, or realised in imagination, or through emotional identification' which may be physical or linguistic.[iv]

Language is equally a product of both culture and emotion, is 'symbolically significant', can possibly be considered multi-sensory, and unconscious as well as intentional. [v]  However it is not my intention to prove that language plus body language equals art.  This is more of an attempt to show how art is an integral part of every day 'being' through being similarity multimodal.

Body language as a force and a tension, not just a sign.

Body language has been studied in the performing arts of dance, theatre and film as a mode of representation and meaning.  It has been examined within the discourse of psychology, and discussed in terms of its practical uses in social and work situations.  It is considered to be a useful tool in reading the psychological states of others, to discover what is 'really' being felt, apart from the words expressed, or during  negotiations or interviews where the truth of a situation might be partially concealed.  It could be considered to include all aspects of a person's communication beyond spoken language, including chosen position in a space, body posture, gesture, facial expression, tone of voice and projection of self, as well as small individual movements such as fidgeting or gaze direction.

For purposes of artistic representation, body language may be discussed in terms of knowing how to create it, but for other areas of life it is often understood as a reading skill, the bodies of others indicating anxiety or distress, status or confidence.  It can be read on a large-scale through posture or social approach, or through small indicators such as a brief licking of lips or rapid eye blinks when evading a question.

Apart from reading the body language of others however, one can also use body language pro-actively, altering a situation through one's own intentional body gestures, posture or voice.  During my time as an occupational therapy student, we were visited by an industrial psychologist, who suggested one should avoid looking at people below face level as there is awareness of even brief glances below that level, and  people become uneasy.  Similarly, taking a bold stance and speaking out clearly not only creates an impression of confidence, it also improves one's confidence of self through biological feedback from the body posture itself, and social feedback from the response of others to your own apparent confidence.  A more subliminal use of body posture and biological feedback is the industrial psychologist’s solution to nervousness during a seated interview, where one may slip one’s hand between or just above the knees, because the position, warmth and body contact has a calming effect. 

These last situations demonstrate how the issue of body language extends much further than superficial readings of others to assist ones logical understanding in a cultural context, and is much more fundamental to our phenomenological understanding of humans and the world than would appear to be the case in discussions merely about reading others or presenting the self.