Somatic Semiotics: Emotion and the Human Face in the Sagas and þættir of Icelanders
Kirsten Wolf
The human face has the capacity to generate expressions associated with a wide range of affective states. Despite fact that there are few words describe facial behaviors, muscles allow for more than thousand different appearances. Some examples feelings can be expressed anger, concentration, contempt, excitement, nervousness, and surprise. Regardless culture or language, same emotions vary only in intensity. Using modern psychological analyses as point departure, this essay examines descriptions well such bodily “symptoms” flushing, turning pale, weeping Old Norse-Icelandic literature. aim is analyze manner which signs used means non-verbal communication convey impression an individual's internal state observers. More specifically, seeks determine when why characters these works described expressing particular and, especially, expressed. Sagas þaettir Icelanders forefront analysis yield over one hundred references expression color. show through gaze, smiling, weeping, brows raised knitted, coloration, tell happiness amusement, pleasant unpleasant surprise, fear, rage, sadness, interest, concern, even mixed language no words. may reticent talking about poor emotional vocabulary, but poverty compensated by making signifiers emotion. This makes clear less emotionally barren often supposed. It also shows our understanding “somatic semiotics” depend on universality culture-specific “display rules” “elicitors” virtually nonexistent.
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