Discourse and gibbons, etc.

[Carsten Otto]

Dear Harold and others,

 >The man did not speak a word; he used deceptive gestures to get her
 >attention, and got what he wanted.  Is this "discourse"?

In my opinion it is discourse, indeed. I guess you would agree that it
is conversation, it is non-verbal but the thief and the driver are
communicating, i.e he sends a message by using deceptive gestures and
she receives and decodes the message by reacting the intended way, thus
they are "interacting in a sociocultural context", which is - I guess -
one definition of discourse (Pike?!).

Just a thought of a quiet linanth-member.

Cheers

Carsten Otto

Am Donnerstag den, 14. November 2002, um 19:50, schrieb Harold F.
Schiffman:

> I'm still wondering about what is discourse and what is not. The fact
> that
> possums, gibbons or birds or whatever can be deceptive, using behaviors
> to
> deceive other animals, makes me think about the following:
>
> A friend of my mother recently had her car "carjacked."  She had entered
> the vehicle and was about to drive away from a parking lot shopping
> center
> when a man tapped on the window and pointed down at the ground.  She
> opened the window to ask what was the matter; he continued to point
> down.
> She opened the door to see what he was pointing at, whereupon he pulled
> the door open further, dragged her out of the car, got in, and drove off
> with the car.
>
> The man did not speak a word; he used deceptive gestures to get her
> attention, and got what he wanted.  Is this "discourse"?
>
> Hal Schiffman
>
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