Intralingual classification of nonverbal units: curtsies

Abstract

The last decades have seen a drastic growth of researchers’ interest in nonverbal communication, especially in gestures and gestural behavior of both past and present. However, a systematic description of curtsy, a key gesture of the aristocracy in European and Russian cultures, satisfying the demands of nonverbal communication studies has not been attempted. The lack of such research defined the scope and objectives of this paper: determining the semiotic class of curtsy, distinguishing and analyzing its types, describing its physical realization, semantics, comparing curtsies and bows and determining their place within the Russian gestural system. The research is based on monographs on etiquette and protocol, memoires of the Russian courtiers of the 18-19-th centuries, books on stage movement and historical dances, dictionaries of the Russian language and illustrations from Russian literature. The results of multidimensional analysis demonstrate that we should classify curtsy as a communicative emblem, both an etiquette and ceremonial gesture, successfully assimilated by Russian culture and evolving with time. The research distinguishes types of the curtsy found in Russian culture, contexts and situations when it was used, its semantics, etc. Comparing curtsies and bows by several parameters (physical realization, active body parts, context and situations of use) helped to define key elements in performing curtsies and first distinguish them as a separate class of gestures, which should result in a change of their definitions in dictionaries where curtsy is invariably defined as a bow. The paper also gives an insight into the history of gestures, starting with Peter the Great and up to modern times. The results of the research will be of interest for researchers in the field of semiotics, nonverbal communication, intercultural communication, lexicography, ethnography and social anthropology.