Abstract for Body Torque
Emanuel A. Schegloff: "Body Torque." Social
Research, 65:3, 1998, 535-596.
Prompted originally by an art historian's
description of the posture of a protagonist in a
well known painting by Titian, the line of inquiry
on which I am reporting here explores a type of
postural configuration best described as "body
torque"- by which I mean, roughly, divergent
orientations of the body sectors above and below
the neck and waist, respectively. A sketch of
various possible features of body torque is
followed by an exploration of these features as
displayed in episodes of ordinary interaction,
and their relevance for understanding classical
paintings meant to depict quite extraordinary
episodes of interaction.' Among the features of
body torque that will be of interest are, first,
its capacity to project postural instability and
types of potential resolutions of this
instability; second, its capacity to display
engagement with multiple courses of action and
interactional involvements, and differential
ranking of those courses of action and
involvements; third, some possible dispositions
of conduct in this domain, such as one to
"minimize torque"; and, fourth, the constraints
and affordances that body torque, by virtue of
these features, can bring to the character of the
activities in which the body's deployer is
engaged.
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