Dictionary of Gestures
Expressive Comportments and Movements in Use around the World
$47.99
- Paperback
336 pages
- Release Date
20 February 2024
Summary
An illustrated guide to more than 850 gestures and their meanings around the world, from a nod of the head to a click of the heels.
Gestures convey meaning with a flourish. A vigorous nod of the head, a bold jut of the chin, an enthusiastic thumbs-up—all speak louder than words. Yet the same gesture may have different meanings in different parts of the world. What Americans understand as the “A-OK gesture,” for example, is an obscene insult in the Arab world.
This volume is th…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780262547994 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0262547996 |
| Author: | Philippe Cousin, Chris Clarke, François Caradec |
| Publisher: | MIT Press Ltd |
| Imprint: | MIT Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 336 |
| Release Date: | 20 February 2024 |
| Weight: | 397g |
| Dimensions: | 229mm x 152mm x 22mm |
What They're Saying
Critics Review
This work deserves a thumbs up for its appeal to a broad audience.
—Booklist—
If François Caradec’s delightfully idiosyncratic Dictionary of Gestures is to be believed, almost all of them amount to some species of mortal insult or erotic invitation somewhere in the world.
—Daily Telegraph—
[a] huge contemporary relevance, helping to avoid misunderstandings in an increasingly multicultural society. This book could even save lives.
—The Spectator—
A strangely eclectic reference manual….an eyeopener.
—National Post—
About The Author
Philippe Cousin
François Caradec (1924-2008) was a French writer and a member of both the Collège de ‘Pataphysique and the Oulipo. His voluminous oeuvre includes biographies of Raymond Roussel and Alfred Jarry, as well as an encyclopedia of practical jokes and a dictionary of French slang. Caradec was a devoted specialist in Alphonse Allais, compiling and editing his collected works, and was one of the first historians of the bande dessinée in France.
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