Media Illustration Presentation
Proxemics and Personal Space
I have multiple
clips to be shown. Two are from the show “Seinfeld” when they cast meets a
“close talker. All clips were found on
YouTube.
The clips from the show “Seinfeld”,
illustrates the invasion of personal space. Proxemics refers to space and how
we use it (Hall, 196). This is discussed in chapter 5 Non-Verbal Communication.
There are four zones of space: intimate, personal, social, and public. Woods
also talks about how different cultures in personal space. Middle Eastern culture
has much less personal space than Western culture.
In the clips, the “close talker”, trying
to make plans to go see a show with his new friends. As he talking with them he
moves closer and closer so they are face to face. Obviously invading the
intimate zone. As he does this the person will react either by becoming very
uncomfortable, seen by other nonverbal cues, or will try to move away leaning
back. In the second clip Kramer comes into the apartment and the “close talker”
moves in to have a conversation. Kramer has a full body reaction to how close
this person is. The “close talker” says that he has heard of Kramer and after
Kramer falls to the ground, Kramer says that he has heard of him too. When some
violates social norms people will discuss how inappropriate it is or could be.
I feel like body language plays such a significant role in communication. It's so interesting to see how first dates and other social relationships can be affected just by the way a person moves or doesn't move, for that matter. Nonverbal communication in the form of body language is so strong and effective. Looking at how strong these factors affect those around us, a smart person would be very particular about the body language they give off and use it to their advantage.
ReplyDeleteThe interactions between the close talker and everyone else he approached seemed a little exaggerated to me (even though they demonstrated the concept you presented very well). My first reaction to seeing it was to think invasions of personal space never get that intense in the United States, at least not when they occur among people who probably aren't from a culture with significantly smaller personal spaces. What do you think about gender roles in these clips? The older guy leans back just like his wife does, but he pretty much stays in the same spot. His wife, however, walks away as well, but the close talker follows her. Elaine made that awkward, stooping down motion when she spoke to him, and Jerry stood his ground. Kramer fell down, but he got back up again. Kramer's reaction might be a little inconsistent with the overall pattern I noticed, but what do you think?
ReplyDelete