Aborted Gesture of Appropriation: Difference between revisions

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The Gesture of Aborted Appropriation is the first [[sign]], which is to say, the first use of language. With all of the members of a group moving and reaching towards some central object, the pre-human pecking order breaks down and, with appetite intensified by [[Mimetic Desire|mimetic desire]], a violent conflict threatening the survival of the group is imminent. One member, then another, aborts the move towards appropriation. This aborted move converts appropriation into a gesture signifying a renunciation of appropriation. All language, and all rituals and human institutions follow from this gesture, and are therefore something like this gesture. A more radical way of putting it is that all of human life and culture is a continuation of that gesture.
The '''aborted gesture of appropriation''' was the gesture issued by the participants on the originary [[scene]], aborting appropriation of the central object.
 
== Origin ==
On the originary scene, the mimetic crisis had escalated to a point where it had overridden the existing animal pecking order. As the members of the group symmetrically converged on the central object of desire, they observed the imminent threat of violence, and issued the aborted gesture of appropriation, deferring the appropriation of the central object. At first, the aborted gesture was only instinctual, issued out of fear of incurring the aggression of others in the group. It did not become the originary [[sign]] until it was repeated deliberately and collectively, as a voluntary gesture of communication signaling to others in the group that they have nothing to fear or to defend against, while designating the central object as the cause of the gesture.
 
== References ==
Gans, E. L., Katz, A. L. (2019). ''The Origin of Language: A New Edition''

Revision as of 17:21, 24 March 2023

The aborted gesture of appropriation was the gesture issued by the participants on the originary scene, aborting appropriation of the central object.

Origin

On the originary scene, the mimetic crisis had escalated to a point where it had overridden the existing animal pecking order. As the members of the group symmetrically converged on the central object of desire, they observed the imminent threat of violence, and issued the aborted gesture of appropriation, deferring the appropriation of the central object. At first, the aborted gesture was only instinctual, issued out of fear of incurring the aggression of others in the group. It did not become the originary sign until it was repeated deliberately and collectively, as a voluntary gesture of communication signaling to others in the group that they have nothing to fear or to defend against, while designating the central object as the cause of the gesture.

References

Gans, E. L., Katz, A. L. (2019). The Origin of Language: A New Edition

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