CHAPTER II

BODY LANGUAGE

Ancient wisdom cannot be contested. “Word is a shadow of deed” claims Democritus. In

reality, not the voice, but the body, “speaks”. The structure of this chapter implies an integrator

view. We start from a general angle (a few aspects about the language of gestures) and go

through particularities (especially hand gestures describing actions). The last sub-section

combines two fields: non verbal communications and publicity, trying to find several

connections between the two.

II.1 The big picture

Body language is an ensemble of visual signs. “Widely, by gesture we understand any

body movement, voluntary or involuntary, carrying a communicational or emotional

significance.”9

Within this language de distinguish actual gestures (movements of the body’s extremities

– head, fingers, arms) and mimic (movements of the face muscles). By bringing an increase of

soulfulness, the gesture fulfils its purpose in the artistic communication. Pantomime is an

organized system of gestures and mimic, able to substitute vocals, especially in the dramatic arts.

The involvement of the tactile analyzer in producing gestures is an object of study for

haptics. This type of non verbal communication is manifested by means of the frequency of

tough, by the firmness of one’s handshake, hugs, shoulder patting or by taking one’s hand. The

place of the touch is culturally determined. In Thailand the area surrounding the head is sacred.

For the Japanese, the tilting of the head replaces a handshake as a form of salute, while the

Eskimos express the same salute with a light pat on the shoulder.

Etymologically, gestus reflects, without any specific distinction, a wide movement of the body or

the slight change in position of one member or another. As opposed to gestus, gesticulation

contains a negative connotation. In the medieval culture, gesticulations were exaggerated

movements, seen as wanton, frivolous or sinful. Their codification, as the reflections related to

their manifestation, was the main preoccupation of the church clergy. They decided that the

representatives of the clergy be distinguished on such a level, from the profane church-goers.

Two notions were distinctly emphasized here: the link between body and soul and the visual, 9 Lucia Wald, Sisteme de comunicare umana, Stiintifica Publishing House, Bucharest, 1973, p.123

graphic or theatric dimension of the gesture. Dihotomia gestus – gesticulation, illustrates “the

antagonism between order and chaos on the medieval stage of gestures”10.

As it is, first and foremost, an issue of morale, it partially covers the ensemble of movements

whose renowned function is to “give a sign”. Thus, sails in a very complex category, that of

signum, which includes all the implication-carrying physical expressions in a communication.

Taking the crown of the king’s head or taking the sword to the emperor constitutes a signum,

marking a social rank, a worthiness or attribution. A partial synonym for gestus is motus. The

collocation motus corporis defines the movement of the body, but could also reflect the

astrological rotation of the celestial bodies. For both meanings, gestus and motus have, as a

single equivalent in Greek, the word kinesis.

Gesture communication has a higher level of universality than the vocal code – fact

known ever since the Antiquity. For Quintilian, gestures have the statute of an international

language: „omnium hominum communis sermo”11. The feature derives from the, mostly, natural

or motivating character of gestures, comparable even, with interjections onomatopoeia or

pictograms.

The liberal arts underline the interrelation between gesture and speech, especially within

the fields of rhethorics (in the trivium of literary disciplines) and music (next to the scientifical

quadrivium). For the Greco-Romans, rhethorics contributed to the development of politicians

and their ethical education. Inventio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria and pronunciatio (or actio) are

the five components of rhethorics. The denomination of action reflects the gestural character of

performance, while pronunciation only underlines its vocal aspects. For Cicero the movements of

the soul (animus) are harmoniously and naturally expressed in the body movements. The

individual mustn’t wish for an imitation of nature because that state puts him on the same level

with Histrion. If histrions use mimesis, orators are the interpreters of truth, becoming “actores

veritas”12.

We can study gesture as a sub-category of the, more elaborate system, we call culture.

The analyses of the means of perception offer relevant data on evolution, for the gesture, as well

as for its physical counterpart (the body). In traditional societies, with a holistic component, the

10 Jean Claude Schmitt, The rationale of gestures in the West – three to thirteenth century, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1998, p. 551111idem, p.64 12Lucia Wald, quoted work, p 127 12

body merged with the cosmos. The degradation of that relation will happen sequentially, by

reaching a process of perceiving the body, only as an isolated element of the man to whom the

being lends its face to. This situation can be found in individualistic social structures, where the

actors are separated from each other, relatively autonomous in their endeavors. Starting with the

Renaissance, artists imprint their personal seal on their works, in an effort to exit obscurity and

beak away from the collective.

Modern times managed to turn a body into an asset rather than a source of identity.

Today, this marks the frontier between one individual and the other, the subject’s closing in on

him and the disruption of the solidarity had with nature. The eyes will be the organs benefiting

from the ever growing influence of the academic culture. They shadow the mouth, a place of

unbound appetite or deafening shouts in the public market. The complexity of gesture

communication cannot rescind the individuality of speech. In relation, the body’s mobility is an

auxiliary means of emphasizing, underlining, shading and anchoring ideas.

The level of use, for gestures, is variable. Studies show that they are more frequent with

children than adults, tribal cultures rather than civilized peoples and southerners as opposed to

northerners. The high intensity and frequency of the non-verbal exchanges, observed with tribal

societies, were explained by invoking the concrete and graphic stage of thinking, overlapping an

accented mood.

Sometimes, for social (taboo, magic, vows of silence) or pathological reasons (a physical

impossibility such as in speech/auditorily impaired people), non verbal communication becomes

the sole means of survival. For Australian aboriginals the cases of linguistic taboo women are

subject to during mourning are quite frequent. They are not allowed to speak, sometimes for

periods as long as a year and must communicate with tribe members, only by gestures.

Throughout time, though, there have been religious interdictions that hindered the vocal

exchange between communities. The sign language between the monks in Cluny, Chateaux and

La Trappe made for an object of study, for several researchers. For Cistercian monks talking was

reduced to the bare necessities. Words were used during the initiation period (in relations with

those outside the monastic life) as well as for religious concepts, difficult to transcribe into

gestures. Codes are similar to dictionaries, where gestures are arranged according to their

alphabetical order. Some examples would be: sticking the index finger into the cheek represented

“the day”; repeated pointing of the ground with the index finger – “here”; tracing a cross in the

air with the arm stretched – “blessing”.

The gestures used in state collectivities are of conventional nature. That is why a singular

position may have different if not antagonistic acceptations even, in the vast cultural space. For

some peoples (Greek, Turkish and Bulgarian) the tilting of the head means no, and shaking the

head means yes, that is to say, opposite to our customs. If sticking out the tongue is a sign of

mockery in the Western cultures, in Tibet, that is considered a sign of respect.

The overruling of the gestuality imposed by social practices, brought fame to the

Quakers, a puritan sect whose followers lived in England, the Netherlands and Pennsylvania.

They even attempted replacing the formal formulae (i.e. courtesy pronoun “Thou”) by insisting

upon a more colloquial approach, such as “you”, “yourself”.

The Christianity of the time transformed the body into a prison for the soul. Starting with

Eve and ending with the witch, at the end of the middle Ages, a woman’s body was the temple of

Evil. The escribed gesture calls for thought of two areas, subject to opprobrium: the theatre

domain and the possession of the Devil. Sign and mimics specialists or possessed people, are

regarded as victims and accomplices of Satan. The Church takes over and filters a series of

gestures, enriching their symbolic. The gesture of adoration by kneeing becomes a unanimous

sign for accession into the spiritual community. The positioning of the body on bedded knees is

the reflection of saintliness and repentance.

During a penitence treatment administered to Petrus Cantor and commented by Le Goff,

six forms of prayer are described and commented: raising of the hands, opening of the arms, to

form a cross, holding of the palms against each other in front of the face, the prostration with the

palms together, the bowing of the upper body, the touching of the ground with the knees and

elbows.

Specialized literature notes a multitude of approaches for classification, some even dating

from the Antiquity. So it is that Cicero, in his De Oratore, distinguishes between significatio (a

gesture accompanying verbalization) and demostratio (expository and delineated sign). Charles

Darwin manages one of the first scientific researches in his piece The Expression of the

Emotions in Man and Animals. He sets the bar between the natural signs perceptible in all

cultures and the conventional signs under the banner of tradition. The issue is more widely

commented in Wilhelm Wundt’s paper – Die Sprache. The author distinguishes between three

types of gestures:

a) Indicators (diectics)

In their initial form, indicator signs were used for present objects. Later on they were

called upon in default of the objects, by indicating a certain quality present as well, in another

object present.

b) Emulative (descriptive)

Gestures have a complex character and seen to have developed from expressive

movements. By considering the means of execution, we can distinguish pattern gestures and

graphic gestures. The former refer to the representation of objects, by using the movement of the

fingers in the air, while the latter refer to mimicry, using the hand or other body parts.

c) Symbolic

These gestures manage to send an idea directly. The association between notion and

gesture is based on a higher degree of arbitrary, to the extent that motivation is, predominantly,

metaphorical and metonymical. The highly usual gestures for affirmation and negation are

symbolic.

Charles Morris extends his research over the next categories:

a) Expressive gestures, common for man and animals;

b) Mimic gestures, for imitating and copying an object or action: transforming the hand

into the shape of a gun, lighting the lighter, adopting a sad mimic during a funeral convoy;

c) Schematic gestures (versions where the mimic is shortened) – here we remind the

movements described by the Northern American Indians, who, when representing a strong

animal, raise their arms and hands with the index finger extended, to the level of the body, in an

attempt to stylize horns;

d) Symbolic gestures, indicating an abstract quality (crossing the index and middle

fingers reflect a non verbal encouragement – “good luck” – while rolling finger in the air next to

the temples expresses senility, insanity);

e) Technical gestures, signs understood only by specialized groups (in television, the

studio manager announces his moderator that it’s time to go off air by swinging his arm in a

movement similar to that of the pendulum clock);

f) Coded gestures, based on a formal system (sign language – the speech-auditorily

impaired alphabet);

S. Frey realizes a sequential analysis of the body activity. It uses the integrated

description in the communication of the verbal and non verbal behavior, based on a notation in

the temporal sequences of speech and movements. The human body is divided into even

sections: head, torso, arms, legs and feet. For each of these sections certain dimensions are coded

(for example, for arms we mention: the vertical, profound and tactile dimensions), that define

types of body movements (i.e. raised or lowered arm, arm in contact with a chair or another

object).

We can also observe the diversity and even eclecticism of the gestural approach, from

presentation and description of the gestures as part of a body language (Descamps, Guiraud) or

as cultural acts (Mauss), going through kinesics (Birdwhistell) and reaching their integration into

the complexity of communication interactions.

Language is, by excellence, analytical. It stands as a rich system of variants and

invariants. It is considered that gesture language does not hold something similar to parts of

speech, because there are no grammatical categories by which it might be differentiated. Even

though a lexical classification of gestures could be attempted (objects, particularities, moods,

spatial and quantitative acceptance), there are no identifiable means of grammatical labeling.

Hence, thief, theft and to steal are represented by the same gesture.

II.2 Hand Gestures

The nah is the most used part of the body. Quintilian observed that the movements

described by the hands are as numerous as words. It is sufficient to look up any explanatory

dictionary of the Romanian language, to see the multitude of denotations and constructions

recorded by lexicologists: “de mana” = manual, “pe sub mana” = under the counter, “peste

mana” = uphill, “cu mana de sare” = out of luck, “cu mana pe inima”13 = in all sincerity (the list

occupies seven pages in the dictionary). The word can also be used as a synonym for arm and

palm. The term is also found in the old scriptures of Coresi, Dosoftei, nomocanons and worship

books:”I-am prinsu de mână ca să-i scot pre ei din Eghipet” (The New Testament)14.

Finding the causes explaining the abundance of the verbal and non verbal language,

representative for this part of the body, requires turning to ontogeny. The complex actions of

grab-and-twist, characterizing manipulation, were the first to appear. They are forever in the

current gesticulatory fund. Naturally, the manipulation action is followed by those of the direct

motor skills of the hand, where the manual tool becomes severable from the motor gesture. The

palm-to-digit grabbing operations, those for affectionate or hostile contact and use of the hand as 13 Dicţionarul limbii române, volumeVI, 9th fascicle, Academia Republicii Socialiste Romane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1967, p. 66214 idem, p.664

recipient, advertised a simple intervention of the low precision upper limb. The anatomical and

physiological transformations interlinked with the evolution of micro-societies (race, tribe,

group, community) have allowed for the development of inter-digit operations (particularly used

in techniques requiring a certain delicacy for execution).

The hand learns to shape objects and transform the raw materials. As an addendum, we

consider that the instruments traditionally assigned into the hands of Adam and Eve (the flax) by

Christian iconography, have the function of exhibing an attribute, reminding of the Original sin

and illustrating the repentance of the first man.

The movements it describes vary, according to the technical means available to man, in

each era. The industrial revolution brings along a new mutation: manual cars annex the gesture

and the hand in indirect motor skill, only brings its motor impulse. The last stage researched by

Andre Leroi-Gourhan, perfectly contours the reality of the 20th and 21st centuries (the upper limb

sets off a programmed process in automated machinery). In his opinion “the regression of the

hand today, would be of little importance if it wouldn’t extend to an individual level: not

thinking with your hands, equals the loss of a part of the thinking process”15.

The rhetorical art emphasizes the major role of the early exercises in the development of

the natural attitude of the individual: “hands be subtle and graceful, attitude not lack elegance,

walk not be awkward”16. By doubling the vocal language, they must permanently accompany the

meaning of words without anticipating them. Quintilian starts from the gesture as an instance and

looks to file the variations and their opposites, in order to show what differences in meaning

arise from there on. His try to have a typology based on up/down, left/right, forward/backwards

spatial oppositions, is far from introducing order in the extreme variety of gestures. Beside the

hand gestures, those of the fingers are described in detail: “when we raise the hand and point it to

the shoulder, tilting the finger slightly, it asserts, turning it back toward the ground and somehow

inverting it, it insists. The same finger, when we lightly tough its last joint, with the thumb and

middle finger, slightly crouched, is adequate for conversation”17.

The gestures of the upper limbs are frequently supported by mimic. The facial expression

can intensify or dim until cancelling out meaning. So it is, that a gesture of intolerance executed

while using a contrary mimic, is interpreted as a gesture of acceptance, forbearance. The use of

15 Andre Leroi Gourhan,Gesture and Speech,vol. I, Meridiane Publiching House,Bucharest,1983, p.5416 Fabius M. Quintilianus, The Institutes of Oratory,vol.III, Minerva Publishing House,Bucharest,1974, p.11917 idem, p. 121

excessive gesticulation is seen as negative in many countries, but hand gestures were what

created the Italian’s people fame as a passionate nation.

The type of communication, generally defining interactions of a ritualistic nature, is

achieved by staring an awakening process in the receiver. Christianity was impressed by the

symbolic value of the hand and its expressive capacities. In the Christian iconography the hand

of the divinity spreads the heavenly praise onto the bodies transfixed in prayer. The actants

address it; they extend their own hands towards it, wishing to be granted absolution. Often, the

godly palm is set into a triangle inside a circle. Turned to the onlooker and oriented fingers-

upwards (protecting hand), it represents the emblem of the creative force of God, transcendence.

The sign of the cross is executed using the right hand, and the fingers positioned as

follows: the ring finger and the little finger are bent inside the palm, following that the index

finger, the middle finger and the thumb unite, forming a diagram symbolizing the Three-in-One.

In their entirety, the Gospels preach Jesus’ gesture pattern (David prophesized the

coming of God’s son by naming him “the Lord’s right hand”18). His blessing and healing actions

became the pattern of ritualistic gestures for priests, saints, and kings in the middle Ages.

Moses, the first prophet – law giver who received the Torah (Pentateuch – the five fifths

of the law) and freed the Jews from Egyptian slavery is often represented in Christian paintings

and plastic arts, holding the tablets (the pictures in Notre Dame, Rembrandt’s works, Marc

Chagall, Gustave Dore) or parting the Red Sea with his staff.

Mythology offers plenty examples where, the hand, as an extension of the body, is

charged with multiple meaning: power, force, gentleness, and candor. Because he rose against

Zeus, Atlas is condemned to forever hold the Earth on his shoulders, only with the power of his

arms. As a symbol of love in Greek mythology, Eros is shown as a winged cherub, armed with a

bow and a quiverful of arrows. These are launched toward people, with the purpose of infusing

love into them. For the mythological universe, demons and heroes hold, even from their birth and

throughout their evolution, a certain type of facial features and very well inlaid steaks. Just as his

brother Zeus holds the Skies, Poseidon holds the Seas and everything in it. The son of Chronos

and Rhea is represented holding the trident in his hand and carried in a carriage pulled by

monstrous animals.

18 Victor Duta, quoted work, p.309

According to the planet correspondence system, traditional astrology turns the pollex into

Venus’ finger, the index Jupiter’s finger, the middle finger into Saturn’s, the ring finger into the

Sun’s, the last belonging to Mercury. The space of the popular divination, gives the hand evil,

necromancy or benefic, non-vindictive characteristics.

Popular Romanian beliefs, speak of beans gazing as a white magic practice. The beans

are split, at the beginning of the fortune telling, into three piles, positioned differently: to the left

(“in a foreign hand”), in the middle (“in house”) and to the right (“into the hand of the seeker”,

“in your hand”)19. In this case, it works as one of the fundamental oppositions of archaic

thinking: the opposition left/right – where the first element if marked as negative. The term

appears in collocations referring to card games: “to pass the hand” (to give your turn to the next

player) or “dead hand”20 (when, without the necessary number of people paying, the card number

is reduced or additional cards are drawn). The situations portrayed involve the actual use of the

hand, which, ultimately, lead to a terminological transfer, based on metonymy.

We remain in the area of the Romanian folklore culture, to present a widely spread

custom in the rural communities: Paparuda (rainmaker). The ritual, performed by an all-female

group, is based on practices for invoking a pluviometrical goddess. After donning a vegetable

costume, the Paparuda and her cohorts, go forth onto the village alleys, visiting people’s wells

and households. She executes a dance on a simple melody, sung and chimed by the participants

by clapping. In some areas, the woman jumps, prances, claps and snaps her fingers, under the

tendence’s admiration, and shakes off the water, imitating rain. The generative function of the

hand is highly expressive here. We leave the mythological field of popular belief to approach the

sterile area of the judicial discipline.

The law discipline is identified in this day and age with verbal language. Ever since the

Antiquity, the judicial practices included non verbal aspects. A contemporary example of a legal

procedure gesture refers to the raising of the right hand for placing the oath before the beginning

of the trial. For medieval societies, hand gestures symbolized the consummation of trade or the

legality of certain exchanges. In the early Mesopotamian law, the dying man could declare his

heir by taking their hand. Greek legislation provides that witnesses touch, either the altar of the

church, or a religious importance object (hence sanctifying the veracity of the deliverance). The

19 Valeriu Balteanu, Dicţionar de divinaţie populară română, Paideia Publishing House, Bucharest, 2001, p.8820 idem

practice also extended to Germany, where, in the 13th century, we find the oath being exercised,

by placing the hand on the sacred relics of saints.

In the Roman law, “manus” has the meaning of power and its by-products assign to

judicial gestures that reflect rendering, taking or power recognition. The Romans’ original way

of rendering property involved the purchaser holding the acquired object in his hand. Touching

the object was accompanied by articulation of a solemn formula: „hune ego hominem ex iure

quiritium meum ese aio isque mihi emptus esto pretio…hoc aere aeneaque libra”21. The

exchange could be realized for real-estate that did not represent private property (house, land).

To publicly recognize his child the father as Pater familias (head of the household) raised the

baby above his head. Marriage consisted of the woman passing under the man’s agency: she was

held in manu mancipioque22 by the authority exerting husband.

The completion of a commercial transaction was realized by “high-fiving”. The brokers

in the Amsterdam stock exchange were even renowned for their hard and fast high-fives. The

medieval knighting ceremony presumed the liege and lord joining their hands (inter alia). The

liege, regularly on his knees, with his head uncovered and unarmed, places his hands in his lord’s

hands (imixtio manum).

The first knights to cross their swords only saw in the duel, a manifestation of justice and

of god’s power that would not leave the arm of the righteous. The formula uttered before battle,

confirmed the incrustation of this reasoning:”ecce me partum cum Evanghelio et scuto et

juste”23.

In a code of honor, published in 1926, we find a statement according to which the

offended has the right to choose the duel and the weapons for the fight. The type of challenge is

known under the formula: “Consider yourself slapped, Sir!” the rules utterly forbid the using of

the left hand during the duel. Article 63 provides: “if, by chance, one of the fighters shall

endeavor to fend away the opponent’s iron with his left hand, with no prior understanding on this

subject, the witnesses of the interested party may require that the opponent’s hand be tied to his

back, to avoid a recurrence”24.

21 „ afirm că acest sclav este al meu potrivit dreptului Quiriţilor şi să-mi fie cumpărat cu preţul de … cu această aramă şi cu această balanţă de aramă „ (n.tr.) – Emil Molcut, Drept roman, Univ. Independenta Titu Maiorescu, Naturismul Publishing House, Bucharest, 1991, p. 68 22 idem, p.5323 Ion I. Nedelescu, Codul onoarei şi regulile duelului, Fundaţiei culturale”Principele Carol” Publishing House, p.11324 Idem, p.115

II.3 Gestures and Advertising

Advertising has been analyzed on its own or in association with mass culture. In the vast

majority of cases, the aspects construed only showed the negative side of the phenomenon. It

was emphasized that it is a form of unjustified manipulation so long as it manifests the desire to

control human character. Others have seen in this a typical model of modern bureaucratic

domination. The consumer’s autonomy is eclipsed to the benefit of a stipulation orchestered

through techno-structural machinery. Through simple deductions, followers get on to associate

advertising with totalitarianism. The ever-controversial subliminal advertising messages generate

fantasy theories. Researchers relate them to a monstrous invention, similar in terms of impact

with the invention of the atomic bomb. In reality, say all the promoters of these ideas, the entire

mass-media apparatus causes the remission of the human experience’s cognitive capacity, by

replacing direct contact with an immediate experience, leaving the individual uncertain, in a

perpetual search for an instance to confirm his opinion.

It is hard to conceive that a cultural and economical phenomenon, with such a spread and

presence, only has negative results on the social. Perhaps a new angle on interpretation should

consider J. Baudrillard’s opinion, according to which, in order to objectively judge advertising,

we must first apply the myth categories on it. Advertising art consists of inventing exposés that

run neither on the principle of authenticity, nor on falseness. It subtly transforms the object into a

pseudo-event and becomes a real component of day-to-day life by the consumer’s adherence to

the formulated oration.

It is, always, necessary for the actor to project a correspondence system onto the images,

a resonance or parallel that would allow for identification. The product is of secondary

importance, as it primes the values appended to it, and the symbolic meaning it carries. Ads as

well as prints, try to touch-up the everyday, by removing unpleasant, inhibitive scenes and

offering the possibility of a positive personal acknowledgement. We are not far from Narcissus

who, by ignoring the love of the nymph Echo, was punished with the agonizing contemplation of

his own reflection in the mirror of the water. The individual thinks of himself in images, just as

the myth of Narcissus illustrates this same pathological admiration, this, fundamental psychic

self-absorption.

The brand, whether it’s ADIDAS, Coca-Cola, Nike, or any other, is susceptible of

magically removing a frustration. A pact is installed between the supplier and the buyer: the

client purchases “something” and receives, in return, a symbol of security or social advancement.

Perception is constitutes as a dynamic game between desires and fortitudes that give the

product its individuality. This personality if the sum of two planes: an objective and a symbolic

value. Three types of symbols can be distinguished in the advertising speech: intentional,

interpretative and connotative. Intentional symbols target the description of the object by

focusing on its qualities. When an ad says about a certain soda drink is “ice cold”, it is clear that

the interpretation of the meaning does not raise any vagueness. The interpretative symbols call

on feelings by building characters, emotions and varied relationships. Connotative symbols

facilitate the transfer from the qualities of the product to the product associated to it. An eloquent

example is the Marlboro commercial, where the presence of the solitary cowboy in a rocky,

aggressive background, tries to convey the idea of a rather powerful masculinity.

Advertising refers to a singular perception from the speaker. There is need for a repetition

of stimuli, a multiple glance that flows from an ensemble of meetings, dispersed through time,

subconsciously or vaguely perceived.

Two is the number of elements playing an important role in making the decision to buy.

The first is the advertising’s ability to convince the buyer of the benefit brought by the purchase

and the second refers to the means of presentation and communication of the product, the fashion

in which the poetic function plays quite an important role.

In its sense of a comprehensive ensemble of a mode of existence, culture, may be clearly

visualized through the advertising construction. In its turn, advertising is forced to consider the

cultural ambit. Car manufacturing companies seem to have a higher percentage of doom. While

some are discovered within timely manner – for example Rolls Royce realized that the Silver

Mist model will not the well received in Germany, because “mist” has an obscene connotation

in- others are launched before the error is discovered (Ford with the „Pinto”, Nissan with the

„Pantry Boy”).

Along-side mass-media, advertising orients the representations of the social space.

The outdoor commercial is the oldest form of advertising. Prehistorical tablets of bronze

and stone, found in the Middle East are proof of that existence. Painted advertising originates

from Pompeii, where the artistically painted walls promoted local business. In the United States,

street pamphlets spread the word of the protest against the imposed tax exerted by the English on

tea, in 1773 and posters made popular Andrew Jackson’s presidential campaign. The

introduction of the printing press allowed for multiplication, expanding the advertising industry.

It appears that modern times have reached a paradox, for advertising has become from

object, a subject. There is talk of a cultural use of advertising, ignoring the strict reference to the

product and only holding onto the design technique. “Night of the Ad Eaters” is such an

example, the French even inventing a new word “publivores”25 for the fans of this behavior. We

will narrow the conversation from aspect to the attributes image wore, as that is, in reality, the

base for the next chapter’s analysis.

Monotheistic religion had the oral duty to fight against image, that is to say, against other

gods. The “argument of images” that has shaken the West, starting with the 4 th until the 7th

century, is the most appropriate example of questioning the divine nature and, implicitly, of

questioning the image. But whether it be a painting, an icon, photograph, engraving or print,

image carries with it a surplus of meaning on the borders on which the lector has the freedom to

reflect. It is true that imagistic projection is based on stereotypes, but there is also a perpetual

adaptation to novelty. This adaptation is in a state of instable balance, because a prolonged

conservatism, just as premature innovation may have negative effects. Images are dependent on

the social context of communication because the message is not addressed to only one

individual, but a group of consumers. They propose a system of relations by positioning the

actors against each other. The relation between the partners can fall into various qualities:

submission – domination, cooperation – competition, attraction – rejection.

Advertising representations must inspire meaning and, as it should be, the majority of ads

contain images of people. If we refer to the American space, the individuals present in American

prints are often engaged in pleasant, leisure activities. The definitions using stereotypes for

masculinity and femininity are particularly frequent. The percentage is much higher in television

commercials that create a highly dynamic social space.

People are presented with a possible self image, where they are able to better capable of

resolving the issues of their existence with the help of products they purchase. For the US history

this method was a way of obtaining national unity, by offering the large incoming numbers of

immigrants, at the time, characterized by affiliation and different cultures, a social construct of 25Vasile S. Dancu, Comunicarea simbolică:arhitectura discursului publicitar, Dacia Publishing House, Cluj- Napoca,1991, p.83

the archetypal individual. Goffman speaks of the “dramatic realization” the individual performs

when around others. He fuels his activity with signs that theatrically emphasize conclusive facts

that might go unnoticed. For Charles Cooley the impulse to “show the world a better or idealized

aspect of ourselves finds an organized expression in the various professions and classes, each of

which has to some extent a cant or pose, which its members assume unconsciously”26.

If language has a double articulation, image has a graphic translated into colors and

shapes. It only retains the gesture in its contextual entirety. The exclusion of the auditory

language gives the possibility to flaunt the second dimension: non verbal communication.

One of the recently developed strategies for attracting attention is the reproduction of

sensational images, where gestuality must be expressive and concise. As readers we engage in an

interaction that can often be highly complex. In other words, in the terms of the visual codes, we

elaborate a meaning for each given element. For example: the winking face suggests a good

disposition, freedom of choice, relaxation. It becomes even more meaningful in 1990, when used

by British Airways, 4,000 extras are dressed in the company colors, red, white and blue, to

realize the formation. Spreading the arms may be interpreted as freedom from constraint. This is

the meaning the Flanco franchise is basing its advertising campaign on.

For beauty products (lotions, perfume) the favorites are images of young women, which

make the gestures, generally, be delicate, simple and charged with sensuality. In searching for

new means of focusing the eyes, advertisers begun realizing that the male physique is a not-so-

widely-explored territory. The male body flashes powerful, affirmational gestures. Non-profit,

humanitarian organizations often call on this type of presentations, for raising funds for charity.

A child trying to touch his eye bandages with his hands, like trying to understand what happened

to him, will have a big emotional impact on the receiver. Visually his instinctual protective

feelings emerge.

The advertising language and implicitly, gesture language have seen chameleonic

transformations throughout history. We must consider that, during the industrial revolution, the

demand meets the offer. The result is an informational publicity, where the abundance of the

gesture is resumed to the showing and presentation of the product. During the inter-war period,

there is want for establishing a veritable social communication, and after the Second World War,

the rule is that we must see the product with the eyes of the consumer. This determines the

enrichment of the gesture with a wide pallet of connotations. When Kent launched the slogan 26 Charles H. Cooley, Human Nature and the Social Order, Scribner’s Publishing House, New York, 1922, p. 352

“attitude makes the future”, the prints showed various individual personalities, heroes with firm

and convincing moves. The hand goes to make shapes; our body defies the laws of gravity and

ventures into a vertical movement. Contrasting with the multi-media exhibition (sound, images,

and movements) prints make way for a forever unfinished speech.

The gesture appears immortalized, sequential. We observe an adult with a hat in his hand,

in front of an extremely elegant lady and suppose that that certain position supervened after the

ritual of salutation. This absence of a detailed movement gives us the possibility of a puzzle-like

supposition combination. The challenge is tempting, especially if the ad is related to a series of

additional meanings, starting from a concise gesture basis. Further narrowing down on this idea,

the next chapter in largely dedicated to practical attempts to analyze body language, as it is

transferred into the advertising campaign of American company Coca-Cola.