Embodied approaches to cognitive development underscore the relevance of narrative in lieu of mentalistic explanations of social cognition. In particular, embodied cognition revises the concept of narrative as an abstract fictional exercise and considers it instead an embodied practice, anchored in early social experiences, perceptions, and emotions, providing children the means to understand how others act according to reasons. Relevance given to embodied narrative in developing social cognition has led researchers to explore its ontogeny, often resulting in contrasting theories. Some studies take a nativist approach and define narrative as an invariant generative process. This view argues for the continuity of narrative structure from fetal and neonatal movement, through infant pre-verbal communication, and into linguistic meaning-making in childhood and adulthood. Other studies, while upholding that narrative is anchored in pre-verbal actions, suggest that it must be kept distinct from actions to avoid pan-narrativism and the overlooking of a significant status change in the nature of content (from non-representational to representational). These contrasting views on embodied narrative raise relevant questions about the relation between actions and language: the former suggesting an identity in structure, the latter suggesting a developmental derivation from action structure to narrative structure. In this chapter, we will offer an analysis of the pivotal role of gestures as communicative forms that join action to language. Close analyses of the emergence of communicative gestures in childhood as well as of the recent literature on aproprioception in adults, will allow us to map the path from actions to narrative through gestures. This path shows structural continuity, but a consistent shift from non-representational to representational processes, moving from functional or instrumental acts to communicative ones, suggesting continuity through change in the passage from action to narrative.
Continuity through change: How gestures inform current debates on the ontogeny of embodied narrative
Sparaci, LauraPrimo
Conceptualization
;
2024
Abstract
Embodied approaches to cognitive development underscore the relevance of narrative in lieu of mentalistic explanations of social cognition. In particular, embodied cognition revises the concept of narrative as an abstract fictional exercise and considers it instead an embodied practice, anchored in early social experiences, perceptions, and emotions, providing children the means to understand how others act according to reasons. Relevance given to embodied narrative in developing social cognition has led researchers to explore its ontogeny, often resulting in contrasting theories. Some studies take a nativist approach and define narrative as an invariant generative process. This view argues for the continuity of narrative structure from fetal and neonatal movement, through infant pre-verbal communication, and into linguistic meaning-making in childhood and adulthood. Other studies, while upholding that narrative is anchored in pre-verbal actions, suggest that it must be kept distinct from actions to avoid pan-narrativism and the overlooking of a significant status change in the nature of content (from non-representational to representational). These contrasting views on embodied narrative raise relevant questions about the relation between actions and language: the former suggesting an identity in structure, the latter suggesting a developmental derivation from action structure to narrative structure. In this chapter, we will offer an analysis of the pivotal role of gestures as communicative forms that join action to language. Close analyses of the emergence of communicative gestures in childhood as well as of the recent literature on aproprioception in adults, will allow us to map the path from actions to narrative through gestures. This path shows structural continuity, but a consistent shift from non-representational to representational processes, moving from functional or instrumental acts to communicative ones, suggesting continuity through change in the passage from action to narrative.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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Sparaci & Gallagher chapter 2024.pdf
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Descrizione: Sparaci, Laura and Gallagher, Shaun. "Chapter 15 Continuity through Change: How Gestures Inform Current Debates on the Ontogeny of Embodied Narrative". Gestures: Approaches, Uses, and Developments, edited by Giovanni Maddalena, Fabio Ferrucci, Michela Bella and Matteo Santarelli, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2024, pp. 251-272. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110785845-016
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