Thinking Anthropologically about Media: How Bodies Communicate

The way we use our bodies in communication is deeply significant. How we move different body parts often expresses something we can’t easily say in words. We also use body language subconsciously. Therefore, it is often easier to learn a spoken language than the gestures and facial expressions that go with it.

When we visit other countries, we may quickly notice that certain gestures have different meanings. After befriending Adamu in Ghana, for example, I was walking with him down the main road of his town when he tried to take my hand. I resisted. I then learned that holding hands was important to him, as it expressed our friendship to the wider public. This made me feel very uncomfortable, since holding hands is much more intimate for me than it is for Adamu.

Many other examples could be named. How do you use your body when you greet someone else? Do you shake hands, bow, prostrate, or put your hands together? Is smiling at strangers a sign of acknowledging them or a sexual invitation? Do you show respect by looking into people’s eyes or by lowering your gaze? When you move your arms and hands while speaking, do you hold your elbows close to your body? Why can it be rude to stare at people? How close should you get to others, and is it appropriate to touch them?

Depending on their cultural environment, people use their bodies in different ways to communicate. Thinking anthropologically about body language helps us  understand how this can lead to communication problems.

Take for example the JESUS film (John Heyman, 1979). In the scene of the Last Supper, Jesus uses his left hand to pass the cup and bread to his disciples. I never noticed this until I learned in Ghana, West Africa, that you never give something to others with your left hand, which is considered dirty. If you do, people will notice. So they ask themselves why Jesus uses his left hand. Did he want to show who was evil or who would go to hell?

Or take the scene when Jesus meets Mary after Lazarus’ death in The Gospel of John (Philip Saville, 2003). Jesus looks intensely into Mary’s eyes, then touches her cheeks and puts his hands around her shoulder when they walk towards the grave. This scene may be touching to Americans and Europeans, since Jesus expresses his care and empathy through body language. But in other parts of the world Jesus’ behavior can give the impression that he was a womanizer who seeks sexual favors.

Next time you watch something on TV that doesn’t come from your country, pay attention to how people use their body differently from what you’re used to. How would you interpret their body language? Do you think that your interpretation corresponds to the communicational intention?

Johannes Merz is a senior anthropology consultant with SIL International. He holds a PhD in anthropology and lectures at Moorlands College in the UK. He and wife Sharon have been based in Benin, West Africa, since 2002. You can contact him at Johannes_Merz@sil.org.

This article first appeared in the IMN, Issue 118, December 2021, © SIL International, all rights reserved, and is used with permission. For future inquiries, please write to ims_imn@sil.org