A CROSS CULTURAL STUDY OF PARALANGUAGE IN WESTERN AND AFRICAN MOVIES: THE EXAMPLES OF THE PROPOSAL AND KNOCKING ON HEAVENS DOOR
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background to the Study
Paralanguage is an aspect of non-verbal communication that emphasises body language and voice nuances as a means of expressing thoughts and feelings. The use of paralanguage is rarely a conscious action; people express themselves in it each day more often than they care to remember. Body language often conveys meaning just as much as spoken words do. Good communicators also have the ability to gauge how their own paralanguage affects others. They also have the ability to alter it so as to gain the trust of others and project confidence (Paschalis 2013). Also, paralanguage varies depending on the context and there are significant differences across cultures in the way and extent to which people communicate through context. Context is important in communication, but it is relatively more important in some situations than others especially in relation to paralinguistic communication. Ignorance of context usually leads to misunderstanding and conflicts (Hall 2002).
There is something universal about the verbal expression of words across cultures but the gesture that follows an utterance might vary. For example, the meaning of the word ‗go‘ in the English language is somewhat the same across continent of the world be it Europe, Asia or Africa without diverse interpretation. This shows that there is no alteration in the interpretation of verbal words across cultures. However, utterances are often accompanied by certain gestures that are not fixed. These gestures vary from one individual to another and they hold several levels of meaning which is what this research examines.
The ultimate aim of movies is to convey certain messages by stimulating reality in a manner that appeals to the viewer‘s sense of reality. This is why their labels and posters are imbued with a great deal of suspense which highlights the viewer‘s curiosity. In essence, a movie should be able to clearly communicate messages across to its audience via verbal and non-verbal means.
Verderber et al. (2009), point out that the most important areas of non-verbal communication are three; namely: Body Language which is called the Kinesics Communication, characterized with using facial expressions, body movement and postures; Physical Environment which is also known as Proxemics Communication, aided with the usage of available space, distance or proximity to other people in the communication scenario and lastly Haptics which is a form of touch behaviour that come into play during interaction. These three areas of non-verbal communication cannot be overlooked especially in movies because they are vital in understanding the messages that movies intend to convey.
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A CROSS CULTURAL STUDY OF PARALANGUAGE IN WESTERN AND AFRICAN MOVIES: THE EXAMPLES OF THE PROPOSAL AND KNOCKING ON HEAVENS DOOR
