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Article published In:
Pragmatics & Cognition
Vol. 24:3 (2017) ► pp.441–473

Spectrums of thought in gesture

Using gestures to analyze concepts in philosophy

| University of Nottingham Ningbo China
| City University of Hong Kong

This study examines the form and function of gestural depictions that develop over extended stretches of concept explanation by a philosopher. Building on Streeck’s (2009) explorations of depiction by gesture, we examine how this speaker’s process of exposition involves sequences of multimodal, analogical depiction by which the philosophical concepts are not only expressed through gesture forms, but also dynamically analyzed and construed through gestural activity. Drawing on perspectives of gesture as active meaning making (Müller 2014, 2016, Streeck 2009), we argue that the build-up of gestures in depiction sequences, activated through a multimodal metaphor (Müller & Cienki 2009), engages the wider philosophical standpoint of the speaker. Using video analysis supported by interview data, we demonstrate how examination of gestures within and across discourse can lead to understanding of how dynamic, embodied, and subjective processes of conceptualization contribute to philosophical theorizing.

Keywords: gesture, conceptualization, depiction, construal, philosophy
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
  • 3.How do gestures depict and analyze content in spoken discourse?
  • 4.Methods and procedures
  • 5.Analysis
    • 5.1Depiction in the explanation of the concept cinematicity
      • 5.1.1Papal canopy description and depiction
      • 5.1.2Establishment of virtual canopy space and carved stone images
      • 5.1.3Bulging sculpture on the canopy columns depicting pregnancy
      • 5.1.4Illustration of birth as represented in the sculpture
    • 5.2Depiction in the explanation of the concept chimerica
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 28 February 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.17024.ste
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