Gift and Communion: John Paul II's Theology of the Body

5. The Language of the Body

Chapter Five The Language of the Body The concept of “the language of the body” occupies an important place in John Paul II’s Wednesday catecheses on the theology of the body. Before analyzing this concept in papal thought, it is helpful to examine how it is understood in other fields of knowledge about man, for example in ethnology and psychology. In both of these disciplines, this concept signifies a nonverbal type of communication , which takes place, for example, through gestures, facial expressions, or signs. The Philosophical and Psychological Understanding of the Language of the Body In the history of philosophy there has always been an awareness of the significance of the human body, of the gestures and movements of the body for interpersonal communication, as for example, in the following discussion between Socrates and Hermogenes in Plato’s dialogue “Cratylus”: 170 The Language of the Body 171 Socrates: Answer me this question: If we had no voice or tongue, and wished to make things clear to one another, should we not try, as dumb people actually do, to make signs with our hands and head and person generally? Hermogenes: Yes. What other method is there, Socrates? Socrates: If we wished to designate that which is above and is light, we should, I fancy, raise our hand towards heaven in imitation of the nature of the thing in question; but if the things to be designated were below or heavy, we should extend our hands towards the ground; and if we wished to mention a galloping horse or any other animal, we should, of course, make our bodily attitudes as much like theirs as possible. Hermogenes: I think you are quite right; there is no other way. Socrates: For the expression of anything, I fancy, would be accomplished by bodily imitation of that which was to be expressed.1 In the history of human culture, this knowledge of the meaning of different poses and gestures of the body has certainly influenced playwrights, directors, and actors in their development of different forms of stage performance, theater, and film. Visual art such as painting, especially that which is symbolical and allegorical, used the language of the body and, at the same time, deepened and enriched it. Various kinds of sign language within different ethnic cultures created a wealth of communication through the body. Umberto Eco writes thus about the historical and cultural richness of the phenomena that come to mind when speaking about nonverbal communication accomplished with the aid of gesticulation and different movements of the body: The mute language of gestures of contemplative monks, of the deaf mute, of Indian and Persian traders, gypsies, thieves, tobacco smugglers; the ritual hand movements of Buddhist and Hindu priests; the communi1 . Plato, Cratylus 422e–23b; in Plato in Twelve Volumes, translated by H. N. Fowler (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1970), 4:133–35. 172 The Language of the Body cation of Afghan fishermen; oriental and Mediterranean kinesics, particularly the gesticulation of Neapolitans; ... stylized gestures of certain figures in Mayan painting, helpful in deciphering their written language and, similarly, the study of gesticulation in Greek vase paintings.... In like manner, kinesics studies ritualized gestures found in the theatre (in classical oriental theatres, in mime, in dance), styles of walking (which vary in different cultures and communicate different types of ethos), styles of standing.... Different kinds of laughter, smiles, crying, being elements of paralanguage, are at the same time elements of kinesics.2 The language of the body is undoubtedly a part of our daily, most basic interpersonal communication. Sixteenth-century Polish writer Mikołaj Rej, “the father of the Polish language,” writes of this as follows: From the posture, you will quickly recognize the matters and deeds of the excited mind. Because you will quickly recognize the quick-tempered, the kind-hearted, mean, wasteful, sad, cheerful, doughty, faint-hearted, and all others, whatever their state. You will quickly know the dull man from the timid one, for when he wants to say something serious he keeps moving his feet, bites his nails, picks at his beard, preens, lisps, and stammers every word thrice over. But, on the other hand, when the person is level-headed, with an honest mind, and thinks nothing of which he should be ashamed of, then his very gaze, words, and posture are as the eagle’s who always looks at the sun.3 2. Umberto Eco, La...