Pointing gestures in a changing and transient environment: Driving lessons
De Stefani, Elwys
Pointing gestures in a changing and transient environment: Driving lessons - 2021.
51
Among Charles Goodwin’s many contributions to the study of social interactions, his work on pointing gestures (1986, 2003, 2007) and professional vision (1994) represents an achievement of great consequence. Following Goodwin’s lead, we examine pointing gestures made by driving instructors while directing steering. We describe four different indexical pointing gestures indicating which way to go: namely, path gestures, geometric gestures, schematic gestures, and contrastive gestures. Path gestures depict a line in space, revealing both a deictic and an iconic component. Geometric gestures establish a vectorial relationship with the visible configuration of the road, while schematic gestures are based on a stylized semiotic representation of the environment. Neither completely geometric nor schematic, contrastive gestures are based on an oppositional representation of the surrounding space. The interactants’ mobility, their epistemic asymmetry, the sequentiality of the interaction, and the didactic activity itself combine to ascribe meaning to these pointing gestures.
Pointing gestures in a changing and transient environment: Driving lessons - 2021.
51
Among Charles Goodwin’s many contributions to the study of social interactions, his work on pointing gestures (1986, 2003, 2007) and professional vision (1994) represents an achievement of great consequence. Following Goodwin’s lead, we examine pointing gestures made by driving instructors while directing steering. We describe four different indexical pointing gestures indicating which way to go: namely, path gestures, geometric gestures, schematic gestures, and contrastive gestures. Path gestures depict a line in space, revealing both a deictic and an iconic component. Geometric gestures establish a vectorial relationship with the visible configuration of the road, while schematic gestures are based on a stylized semiotic representation of the environment. Neither completely geometric nor schematic, contrastive gestures are based on an oppositional representation of the surrounding space. The interactants’ mobility, their epistemic asymmetry, the sequentiality of the interaction, and the didactic activity itself combine to ascribe meaning to these pointing gestures.
Réseaux sociaux