{"product_id":"gestures-their-origins-and-distribution-by-desmond-morris-peter-collett-peter-marsh-marie-o-shaughnessy","title":"'Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution' by Desmond Morris, Peter Collett, Peter Marsh \u0026 Marie O’Shaughnessy","description":"\u003ch4 data-start=\"112\" data-end=\"628\"\u003eThis large illustrated study treats gesture as a kind of unofficial language: culturally transmitted, regionally variable and often far less universal than its users imagine.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"112\" data-end=\"628\"\u003eBased on fieldwork across twenty-five countries and forty locations, it maps twenty familiar signals—including the horn sign, eyelid pull, hand purse, chin flick and various versions of the V-sign—asking where each gesture appears, what it communicates and how its meaning changes as it crosses borders. \u003cspan class=\"\" data-state=\"closed\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"630\" data-end=\"1298\"\u003ePublished in 1979, the book belongs to the expansive popular anthropology associated with Desmond Morris: systematic, visually compelling and confident enough to occasionally outrun what later scholarship would permit. Its real pleasure lies in the maps, photographs and dense taxonomy of ordinary bodily acts. A gesture that signifies alertness in one place may become insult, protection, sexual mockery or nonsense elsewhere. The result is both a reference work and a period document of pre-digital cross-cultural research—ideal for readers interested in semiotics, anthropology, visual culture and investigators of social codes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1325\" data-end=\"1497\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBook Club Associates hardback with dust jacket, 1979, published by arrangement with Jonathan Cape. Very good condition with light rubbing and minor edge wear to the jacket.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45850235043923,"sku":null,"price":28.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/Yourparagraphtext-2026-07-22T102003.470.png?v=1784679623","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/gestures-their-origins-and-distribution-by-desmond-morris-peter-collett-peter-marsh-marie-o-shaughnessy","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}