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The Fine Art of Italian HandGestures: A Vintage Visual
Dictionary by Bruno Munariby Maria Popova
A pocket guide to Neapolitan nonverbal communication.
Somewhere between his seminal manifestos
on design as art and his timelessly delightful
children’s books, legendary Italian artist and
graphic designer Bruno Munari made time
for a number of idiosyncratic side projects.
Among them is Speak Italian: The Fine Art of
the Gesture (UK; public library) — a charming,
quirky, minimalist guide to Italians’ expressive
nonverbal communication originally published
in 1958 as a supplement to the Italian
dictionary, inspired by The Ancients’ Mimic
Through the Neapolitan Gestures, the first
collection of gestures made by Canon Andrea
de Jorio in 1832. Unlike the hefty and sparsely
illustrated 380-page original tome, however, Munari’s pocket-sized version
features frugally descriptive text and ample, elegant black-and-white
photographs of hand-gestures for everything from mundane activities like
reading and writing to emotive expressions of praise and criticism.
In the short preface, Munari notes the globalization of nonverbal vernacular, as
Neapolitan gestures begin being recognized worldwide and American imports
like “OK” permeate Italian culture, then promises:
We have collected a good many gestures, leaving aside
vulgar ones, in order to give an idea of their meaning to
foreigners visiting Italy and as a supplement to an Italian
dictionary.
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Old Neapolitan gestures, from left to right: money, past times, affirmation,stupid, good, wait a moment, to walk backward, to steal, horns, to ask for.
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must-reads Another illustrated page of the book of Canon Andrea de Jorio. Meaning of the gestures: silence, no, beauty, hunger, to mock, weariness, stupid, squint, to
deceive, cunning.
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Gestures of drinking and eating (from an old Neapolitan print)
'You make a mockery of the 'madam'!' (from an old Neapolitan print)
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For a naughty twist, complement Speak Italian: The Fine Art of the Gesture with
the surrealist chart of erotic hand signaling.
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