The Language of Asian Gestures

Jieun Kiaer holds the YBMK KF Professorship in Korean Linguistics at the University of Oxford. As a linguist, pragmatist, and specialist in Asian studies, she has published extensively in the fields of theoretical and applied linguistics as well as translation studies. Her research goes beyond the traditionally Western and text-focused approaches to language, embracing non-European and multi-modal perspectives to offer a more nuanced understanding of human communication. Loli Kim is a postdoctoral researcher on the Leverhulme project "Sea, Song and Survival: The Language and Folklore of the Haenyeo Women" at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford. As a multimodalist, semiotician, and specialist in Asian studies, semantics, and film, she publishes across fields of multimodality, semiotics, translation, semantics, pragmatics, and film and media studies—all drawn together by cross-cultural perspectives that seek to contextualise Asian discourses in their own cultures and to develop the methodological tools needed for doing so.

List of Figures

Acknowledgements

Preface

Part I. Gestures – Moving Words or Words in Action?

Gestures – A Bird's Eye View

Prosody as Gesture

Understanding Facial Expressions

Cultural Gestures

Diversity in Asian Language and Culture

Asian Gestures

Multimodal Modulation Hypothesis (MMH)

Hierarchy Through Gesture

Diversity in Asian Gestures

Bowing

Gesturing Properly

Verbal – Gestural Languages: Division of Labour

Border-Crossing Gestures

Part II. Gesture in Asia – Mapped Though Film

Head

Smile

Kiss

Open Mouth, Sticking Out Tongue, and Lip Pointing

Nodding

Head to Hand

Scratching the Head

Ear Pulling and Ear Holding

Rolling Both Hands Behind Ears

Eye Gaze

Lowering the Head

Closing Eyes and Blinking

Winking

Raised Eyebrows

Voice

Whistling

Slurping

Laughter

Hissing

Silence

Soft Speaking

Upper body

Shoulders

Arms

Crossed Arms

Bowing

Handshake

Hand Over Mouth

Beckoning

Fist

Waving

Pointing

Touching the Heart

Hands Held Together in Lap

Wrist Twisting

Cutting Through

Pouring for Someone

One or Two Hands

Drinking Gestures

Food Gestures

Giving and Receiving Items and Gifts

Left or Right Hand

Touch

No Touching of the Head

Patting and Hitting

Chin Grabbing/Shaking

Brushing and Washing

Lower body

Crossing Legs and Kneeling

Covering Bare Legs When Sitting

Feet

Exposing the Feet

Touching Someone Else's Feet

Touching Things or Gesturing Using Feet

Part III. Future Gestures in an Asian Context

The Evolution of Gestures

Smartphone Gestures

Gestures in a Digital Age

Emoji and Acronym Ambiguity: Interpreting Generational Disparities in Digital Communication

Decoding Gestures: The Complexities in an Increasingly Mobile World

‘Translingual, Transcultural, and Transmedial’: Individual Differences

Transnational Gestures

Fandom Gestures: Transcending Borders and Cultures

Sharing Memes and Emojis: An Act of Solidarity

Gesture Diversity

Gesture Conflicts

Future Gestures: Less Hierarchical?

Online Gestures Matter

AI Gestures in Films

Future of Human Language

Filmography

Interviewees

Bibliography

Index