Building Meaning in Interaction: Rethinking Gesture Classifications

Abstract

In this paper I explore some issues that emerge when using current gesture typologies to understand gestures as they occur in natural interactive settings. I use data collected during ethnographic fieldwork at an architecture finn, and place my argument within a growing body of literature that examines the communicative usefulness of gestures in interaction. I present a critique of received gesture classification systems based on their lack of explanatory power when dealing with gestures in real world settings. The purpose is to show that what matters for understanding gestures is oftenfar broader than existing systems can account for. I offer a new way to think about gesture classification based 011 a gesture ~ communicative function. I then examine examples from two phenomena not covered by existing gesture classification systems to illustrate that interpreting a gesture is often contingent upon examining the gesture ~ position within a much broader and dialogic context.