MultimOst united: from past to present in studying the role of body in communication

Abstract

In this talk, I will discuss how the symbolic role of the body in sports and art in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) influenced my socialization and may have contributed to my current interest in the body, its properties, and its role in multimodal communication. I will summarize empirical work demonstrating that the entire body contributes to meaningful multimodal communication, from head to toe. The examples focus on:

1. the change in head rotation angle when looking up and its impact on fundamental frequency (F0);
2. the effect of fast manual co-speech gestures on the respiratory system, intensity, and F0; and
3. the underexplored role of the lower body in maintaining balance and stability as well as signalling attitudes toward an interlocutor and leader-follower scenarios in multimodal communication.

I will conclude my talk by presenting a unified perspective from both the East and West and an integration of different body parts in multimodal communication.

Please contact kadava@leibniz-zas.de for the Teams-Link.