Body, language and meaning in conflict situations : a semiotic analysis of gesture-word mismatches in Israeli-Jewish and Arab discourse / Orit Sônia Waisman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Waisman, Orit Sônia.

Series:

Studies in functional and structural linguistics ; 62.

Studies in functional and structural linguistics ; 62

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Speech and gesture--Political aspects--Israel.

Speech and gesture.

Body language--Political aspects--Israel.

Body language.

Gesture--Political aspects--Israel.

Gesture.

Arab-Israeli conflict--Psychological aspects.

Arab-Israeli conflict.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (204 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : John Benjamins Pub. Company, 2010.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

This original research applies semiotics to linguistic and non-linguistic segments in a text in search of potential correlations between them. The resultant mapping is applied to cases of gesture-word mismatches that are evident in conflict situations. The current study adopts the word systems approach, a sign-based theory that is naturally designed for the analysis of linguistic signs, and extends it to non-linguistic units, borrowing analytical tools from the field of dance movement therapy. The variety of interdisciplinary metaphorical and literal interpretations of the analyzed signs enriches the theoretical framework and facilitates examination of the instances of mismatches. Hence, this study makes a meaningful contribution to the understanding of linguistic/non-linguistic mismatches in situations of conflict. Further, it makes more general claims: the semiotic system underlying this study paves the way for further research of correlations (or lack thereof) between a range of phenomena cutting across sociology, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and political science.

Contents:

Body, Language and Meaning in Conflict Situations

Editorial page

Title page

LCC data

Table of contents

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

2. A presentation of the field

Body, language and meaning

The body and its social meaning

The study of non-verbal communication

Pointing gestures

Mismatches between verbal and non-verbal modalities

Gestures remain unnoticed

Linguistics and non-verbal study

Sign-oriented semiotic theory

The word systems semiotic approach

Research on conflict

Language and conflict

Conflict between groups

The Arab-Jewish conflict

3. Methodological issues

The data: A means to study conflict

Preliminary data analysis

A gestalt view of the text

Initial analysis of mismatches

The mismatch form

Non-random distribution of signs: The word systems

Analysis of the text as a whole

The word systems theoretical framework

The beten (belly) word system

The medina-adama (state-land) word system

The Shoa-Nakba (Holocaust-Catastrophe) word system

Limitations

4. The beten word system

The meaning of the belly - Literature review

The first half of the ninth meeting

Brief presentation of the interaction

The mismatches

Non-verbal expressions of beten

The second half of the ninth meeting

The beginning

Michal: The notion of space and the full beten

Nurit: Addressing her own identity issue through the beten mele'a

Nabila: The beten as a common enemy

Nurit: Efforts to connect to Manar's beten

Manar: Puncture vs. protection, some verbal and non-verbal considerations

Other participants describe Shoshi

Further observations - Other participants

The facilitators: Verbal and non-verbal considerations

Sari: Difficulties with the undefined, with feelings

Michael: Approaching intimacy

Ovad and Dan: The handshake.

Ovad: Struggling with "sensations of the beten"

Nabila confronts Ovad's refusal to feel

The various outlets of the body

Discussion

5. The medina-adama word system

The meanings of medina-adama: Literature review

The analysis

Sari: The speaker of the medina

Mismatch M11/129: Proximate and remote deictics

How a state is born

Mismatch M7/130

Nasrin: The speaker of the adama

Nasrin: Non-verbal considerations

The first meeting

The second meeting

The third meeting

Meeting 3 continued: The first overt confrontation between Sari and Nasrin

Meetings 4-6

Meeting 7: The second conflict between Nasrin and Sari

Meetings 8-11

Loss of the adama: Meetings 12-16

Summary: Sari and Nasrin

Medina and adama: Additional analyses

Haled: "No problem of adama"

The relationship between Ovad and Dan

Dan: The medina solution

Ovad: Loyalty to the medina

Dan and Ovad

The territories

Ibrahim's adama

Muhammad's finale

6. The Shoa-Nakba word system

A general look at the Shoa-Nakba word system

The thirteenth meeting

Raising unspeakable issues

Leading up to Nabila's mismatch

Mismatch M13/121: Equating the Shoa and the Nakba

The aftermath of the mismatch

Points of interconnection between the Shoa-Nakba and the beten word systems

The relationship between Dana and Muhammad

Dana: The "radar" of the Shoa word system

Muhammad, who dares speak the Nakba

Dana's mismatches

Who snaps first? Meetings 4 and 5

Meeting 7: Hidden knowledge of Muhammad

Blurring of identities

A final word

7. Conclusions

Understanding conflict

Three layers of significance of the Arab-Jewish conflict

Analysis of conflict groups

Mismatches between verbal and non-verbal expressions

Recommendations for future research

Epilogue

Bibliography

Appendix.

Name index

Subject index

The series Studies in Functional and Structural Linguistics.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612897290

9781282897298

1282897292

9789027287557

9027287554

OCLC:

844247907