The dynamic dance : nonvocal communication in African great apes / Barbara J. King.

By:

King, Barbara J, 1956- [author.]

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2004.Description: 1 online resource (283 pages) : illustrationsContent type:

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9780674039612
0674039610
9780674015159
0674015150

Subject(s): Genre/Form:

Additional physical formats: Print version:: Dynamic dance.DDC classification:

599.88/159/096 22

LOC classification:

QL737.P96 K56 2004eb

NLM classification:

2004 M-063
QL 737.P96

Other classification:

WT 3739

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- 1 Social Communication as Dance -- 2 Gesture and Dynamic Systems Theory -- 3 Gesture in Captive African Great Apes -- 4 Gesture in Wild African Great Apes -- 5 The Evolution of Gesture -- 6 Imagined Futures -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index

Summary: Mother and infant negotiate over food; two high-status males jockey for power; female kin band together to get their way. It happens among humans and it happens among our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom, the great apes of Africa. In this eye-opening book, we see precisely how such events unfold in chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas: through a spontaneous, mutually choreographed dance of actions, gestures, and vocalizations in which social partners create meaning and come to understand each other. Using dynamic systems theory, an approach employed to study human communication, Barbara King is able to demonstrate the genuine complexity of apes' social communication, and the extent to which their interactions generate meaning. As King describes, apes create meaning primarily through their body movements--and go well beyond conveying messages about food, mating, or predators. Readers come to know the captive apes she has observed, and others across Africa as well, and to understand "the process of creating social meaning." This new perspective not only acquaints us with our closest living relatives, but informs us about a possible pathway for the evolution of language in our own species. King's theory challenges the popular idea that human language is instinctive, with rules and abilities hardwired into our brains. Rather, The Dynamic Dance suggests, language has its roots in the gestural "building up of meaning" that was present in the ancestor we shared with the great apes, and that we continue to practice to this day.

Item type:

Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.

Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

Holdings
Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Materials specified	Status	Date due	Barcode
Electronic-Books	OPJGU Sonepat- Campus	E-Books EBSCO			Available

Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-270) and index.

Print version record.

English.

Mother and infant negotiate over food; two high-status males jockey for power; female kin band together to get their way. It happens among humans and it happens among our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom, the great apes of Africa. In this eye-opening book, we see precisely how such events unfold in chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas: through a spontaneous, mutually choreographed dance of actions, gestures, and vocalizations in which social partners create meaning and come to understand each other. Using dynamic systems theory, an approach employed to study human communication, Barbara King is able to demonstrate the genuine complexity of apes' social communication, and the extent to which their interactions generate meaning. As King describes, apes create meaning primarily through their body movements--and go well beyond conveying messages about food, mating, or predators. Readers come to know the captive apes she has observed, and others across Africa as well, and to understand "the process of creating social meaning." This new perspective not only acquaints us with our closest living relatives, but informs us about a possible pathway for the evolution of language in our own species. King's theory challenges the popular idea that human language is instinctive, with rules and abilities hardwired into our brains. Rather, The Dynamic Dance suggests, language has its roots in the gestural "building up of meaning" that was present in the ancestor we shared with the great apes, and that we continue to practice to this day.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide

There are no comments on this title.

to post a comment.