Marianne Gullberg and co-editors Wendy Sandler (University of Haifa) and Carol Padden (University of California, San Diego) have just published an e-book entitled Visual Language.
Traditionally, research on human language has taken speech and written language as the only domains of investigation. However, there is now a wealth of empirical studies documenting visual aspects of language, ranging from sign languages to gesture studies. However, sign language and gestures are rarely treated together in theoretical discussions. This volume aims to remedy that by considering both types of visual language jointly in order to transcend (artificial) theoretical divides, and to arrive at a comprehensive account of the human language faculty. This collection seeks to pave the way for an inherently multimodal view of language, in which visible actions of the body play a crucial role. The 19 papers in this volume address four broad and overlapping topics: (1) the multimodal nature of language; (2) multimodal representation of meaning; (3) multimodal and multichannel prosody; and (4) acquisition and development of visual language in children and adults.
The book and the individual papers within are freely available online <link https: www.frontiersin.org research-topics visual-language external-link-new-window external link in new>here.
Sandler, W., Gullberg, M., Padden, C., eds. (2019). Visual language. Lausanne: Frontiers Media. doi: 10.3389/978-2-88963-078-3
