ABSTRACT

If we are content with simple beginnings, this chapter could be summarized with the question: why are people inclined to point with their finger? It seems a marginal topic where we could easily be content with a simple description of external features (movement of hand, outstretched finger) and/or inner motivations. However, the gesture of pointing is also pervaded by a certain discrepancy, where it seems that the above question doesn’t sufficiently articulate the problem. The intended meaning of pointing is framed by the overlapping of language and body. It could be interpreted as neither one nor the other, but something that emerges in the junction of both, in the movement from one to the other. The focus will therefore lie in establishing an overview of this peculiar habit and in unravelling its basic characteristics, but let’s begin with a detour: a commentary on a classical work of art.