Conversations, Body Language and Power in Screen Narratives

A Doorway to Extra-Textual (-Televisual) Geographies

Authors

  • Carolien Fornasari University of Rome 'Tor Vergata'

Keywords:

nonverbal communication, body language, screen narratives, televisual geographies, textual conversations

Abstract

Language and space are not separated from one another. Language can contribute to place-making in different ways and situations, while geographical and cultural factors can influence both verbal and non-verbal communication. The essay aims to analyse how the use of bodily expressions in fictional narratives can help explicate characters’ origins, socio-cultural and territorial backgrounds and upbringing, in addition to expressing their emotions, personalities and intentions. Period drama Peaky Blinders, set in Birmingham in the aftermath of the First World War, revolving around the misdeeds of Thomas Shelby and his gangster family, is an interesting case study. It provides many examples of power-asserting, non-verbal expressions in conversations between the protagonist and his antagonists. These convey authority and dominance, and highlight characters’ motives and states of mind, but they also stress their different origins, nationalities and social statuses. By carrying out a comparative analysis of the body languages of Shelby and some of his opponents in relevant scenes, the essay brings to the fore alternative ways of depicting and perceiving intra- and extra-textual (televisual) geographies, which go beyond the representation of place through visual settings. The proposed kind of in-depth analysis, which could be extended to other case studies – novels, films and other TV productions – could contribute to broadening the academic conversations on textualities and narrative geographies.

References

Argyle, M. (1975) Bodily Communication, London: Methuen.

Di Michele, M. (2017) ‘Langscape: Language, Landscape and Memory, the Origins of a Poetics.’ Literary Geographies, 3(2), pp. 125-138.

Englund, L. (2021) ‘“Dispatcher took me places I was not meant to go” – Embodied Placemaking in Mark Gevisser’s Lost and Found in Johannesburg: A Memoir.’ Literary Geographies, 7(2), pp. 173-188.

Højbjerg, L. (2014) ‘The Moving Image: Body Language and Media Context.’ Kosmorama, 258. [Online] [Accessed 11 January 2024] https://www.kosmorama.org/en/kosmorama/artikler/moving-image-body-language-and-media-context.

Hones, S. (2008) ‘Text as It Happens: Literary Geography.’ Geography Compass, 2(5), pp. 1301-1317.

Peaky Blinders. (2016). Season 3, Episode 3. BBC. 19 May.

Peaky Blinders. (2017). Season 4, Episode 3, ‘Blackbird.’ BBC. 29 November.

Peaky Blinders (2017). Season 4, Episode 6, ‘The Company.’ BBC. 20 December.

Peaky Blinders (2013-2022) [TV series]. Mandabach, C., Knight, S., et al. (executive producers) Caryn Mandabach Productions and Tiger Aspect Productions.

Plantinga, C. (1999) ‘The Scene of Empathy and the Human Face on Film.’ In Plantinga, C. and Smith, G.M. (eds) Passionate Views. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, pp. 239-255.

Rosenthal, R. (1998) ‘Nonverbal Communication.’ In Friedman, H.S. (ed) Encyclopedia of Mental Health, vol. 2. New York: Academic Press.

Tuan, Y.F. (1991) ‘Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative-Descriptive Approach.’ Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), pp. 684-696.

Downloads

Published

2024-10-30

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2024)

Section

Thinking Space

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).