Adam Kendon
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Adam Kendon (4 April 1934 – 14 September 2022) was one of the world's foremost authorities on the topic of
gesture A gesture is a form of nonverbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or othe ...
, which he viewed broadly as meaning all the ways in which humans use visible bodily action in creating utterances including not only how this is done in speakers but also in the way it is used in speakers or signers when only visible bodily action is available for expression.Müller, Cornelia. (2022). Obituary: Adam Kendon 1934-2022. International Society of Gesture Studies. https://www.gesturestudies.com/in-memoriam


Early life

Kendon was born on 4 April 1934 in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, son of the writer Frank Kendon. At the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, he read Botany, Zoology and Human Physiology, as well as Experimental Psychology for the Natural Sciences. At the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, he studied Experimental Psychology, focusing on the temporal organization of utterances in conversation, using Eliot Chapple's chronography.Leeds-Hurwitz, Wendy, & Kendon, Adam. (2021). The Natural History of an Interview and the microanalysis of behavior in social interaction: A critical moment in research practice. In James McElvenny & Andrea Ploder (Eds.), ''Holisms of communication: The early history of audio-visual sequence analysis'' (pp. 145-200). Berlin, Germany: Language Science Press, p. 165. Then he moved to
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
to study directly with Chapple on research leading to his D. Phil. from Oxford in 1963. His thesis topic—communication conduct in
face-to-face interaction Human communication, or anthroposemiotics, is a field of study dedicated to understanding how humans communicate. Humans' ability to communicate with one another would not be possible without an understanding of what we are referencing or think ...
—spelled out the interests he would pursue in subsequent decades. He is noted for his study of gesture and sign languages and how these relate to spoken language.


Career

After completing the D. Phil., he accepted a position in the Institute of Experimental Psychology at Oxford, where he worked in a research group with Michael Argyle and E.R.W.F. Crossmann. He initially focused on sign systems in
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
and
Australian Aboriginal sign languages Many Australian Aboriginal cultures have or traditionally had a manually coded language, a sign language, signed counterpart of their oral language. This appears to be connected with various avoidance speech, speech taboos between certain kin o ...
, before developing a general framework for understanding gestures with the same kind of rigorous
semiotic Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of semiosis, sign processes and the communication of Meaning (semiotics), meaning. In semiotics, a Sign (semiotics), sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feel ...
analysis as has been previously applied to spoken language. Important influences on his theoretical understandings included:
Erving Goffman Erving Goffman (11 June 1922 – 19 November 1982) was a Canadian-born American sociologist, social psychologist, and writer, considered by some "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth century". In 2007, '' The Time ...
, Albert Scheflen,
Ray Birdwhistell Ray L. Birdwhistell (September 29, 1918 – October 19, 1994) was an American anthropologist who founded kinesics as a field of inquiry and research.Danesi, M (2006). Kinesics. ''Encyclopedia of language & linguistics''. 207-213. Birdwhistell co ...
, and
Gregory Bateson Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904 – 4 July 1980) was an English anthropology, anthropologist, social sciences, social scientist, linguistics, linguist, visual anthropology, visual anthropologist, semiotics, semiotician, and cybernetics, cybernetici ...
. Becoming aware of Scheflen's work in 1965, while still at Oxford, he managed to meet him in Philadelphia, where he shared his earliest work; as a result, he was first invited to join William S. Condon's research team at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in 1966-67, and then to join Scheflen's research team at Bronx State Hospital in 1967. He never actually worked with Birdwhistell directly, but they were in contact, and he did work with films made available to him by Birdwhistell. In 1976 he took up an appointment in
Canberra, Australia Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city, and the eighth-largest Australian city b ...
at the Department of Anthropology in the Research School of Pacific Studies,
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
. He undertook filming everyday interaction in
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
but also was able to record a
sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...
in use in the valley where he worked where there was a considerable number of deaf persons.Kendon, Adam. (2020). ''Sign language in Papua New Guinea: A primary sign language from the Upper Lagaip Valley, Enga Province''. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. His publication of this work, in three articles in 1980, proved to be a pioneering study; no other accounts on sign language from this part of the world were to appear until the beginning of the twenty-first century. This work was republished as a monograph together with a new essay written by colleagues bringing the original work up to date. After this he undertook a major investigation of the sign languages in use among
indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
- these are sign languages used for
ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...
reasons or for practical reasons in situations where speech might is impractical or inappropriate. These are known as alternate sign languages, distinguishing them from primary sign languages developed among deaf people. Extensive documentation of his research in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
is available at the library of the
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...
. In 1988, he returned to
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,Rogow, Pamela. (29 November 2013). Pointing out G'town's Adam Kendon, 'Father of gesture'. ''Chestnut Hill Local.'' https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/stories/pointing-out-gtowns-adam-kendon-father-of-gesture,4274 teaching for two years at the
Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania The Annenberg School for Communication is the communication school at the University of Pennsylvania. The school was established in 1958 by Wharton School alum Walter Annenberg as the Annenberg School of Communications. The name was changed to it ...
. Kendon then moved to
Naples, Italy Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
and undertook fieldwork on the use of gesture in everyday interaction among Neapolitans and also published a translation of a 19th Century book about Neapolitan gesture (by Andrea de Jorio), comparing it to gesturing among the Greeks and Romans. In 2004 he published an important general book on the phenomena of gesture which drew extensively on his work in Naples as well as his work in New Guinea and Australia, the United States and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Since then he has published various articles on gesture and related topics, including discussions of the place of gesture in theories about language origins. In 2012, he returned to Cambridge, where he spent the rest of his life, associated with the Division of Biological Anthropology at Cambridge, and an Honorary Professor in Psychology and Language Sciences at
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
. In 2014 at UCL, he presented a lecture series "Topics in the study of gesture." Kendon received research grants from the
National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
, the
Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren (5 June 1881 – 24 November 1961) was a Swedish people, Swedish entrepreneur and one of the wealthiest men in the world during the 1930s. Early life He was born on 5 June 1881 in Uddevalla, a town on the west coast ...
, the
American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...
, as well as a
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
. In addition to the previously mentioned positions at Oxford and Bronx State Hospital, he held research positions at the
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
and
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
in the United States, the Australian National University and the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander Studies in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
; and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. In addition to teaching at Oxford and Penn, he held positions at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
and
Connecticut College Connecticut College (Conn) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. Originally chartered as Thames College, it was founded in 1911 as the state's only women's colle ...
in the US, as well as the Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale", the
University of Salerno The University of Salerno () (in acronym UNISA) is a university located in Fisciano and in Baronissi, Italy. Its main campus is located in Fisciano while the Faculty of Medicine is located in Baronissi. It is organized in ten faculties. H ...
and the
University of Calabria The University of Calabria () is a state-run university in Italy. Located in Arcavacata, a hamlet of Rende and a suburb of Cosenza, the university was founded in 1972. Among its founders there were Beniamino Andreatta, Giorgio Gagliani, Pietr ...
in Italy. Kendon was a founding editor of the journal ''GESTURE'' (published by
John Benjamins John Benjamins Publishing Company is an independent academic publisher in social sciences and humanities with its head office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company was founded in the 1960s by John and Claire Benjamins and is currently managed ...
of
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
), along with Cornelia Müller, in 2000. He was the sole editor from 2010 to April 2017, when he was replaced by Sotaro Kita. In his role as editor of ''GESTURE'' he was an Ex Officio member of the board of the International Society for Gesture Studies, of which he was elected Honorary President in 2006. He edited the book series ''Gesture Studies'' for John Benjamins, with 9 volumes published between 2007 and 2022. Colleagues prepared a
festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
in 2014, honoring his contribution to the study of gestures and interaction. In 2016, Frederick Erickson interviewed Kendon about his techniques for analyzing both videotapes and live interaction for the conference “Learning how to look and listen: Building capacity for video-based transcription and analysis in social and educational research;” the videos of their conversations have been made publicly available.


Family

Kendon married Margaret Rhoads in 1961; they had three children, Gudrun, Benjamin and Angus.


Selected publications

Books authored: *Kendon, Adam. (1977). ''Studies in the Behavior of Face-to-Face Interaction.'' Lisse, Netherlands: Peter De Ridder Press. *Kendon, Adam. (1988). ''Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Kendon, Adam. (1990). ''Conducting Interaction: Patterns of Behavior in Focused Encounters''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Kendon, Adam. (2004). ''Gesture: Visible Action as Utterance''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Kendon, Adam. (2020). ''Sign language in Papua New Guinea: A primary sign language from the Upper Lagaip Valley, Enga Province''. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Book translated: *Kendon, Adam. (2000). ''Gesture in Naples and Gesture in Classical Antiquity: An English translation, with an Introductory Essay and Notes of La mimica degli antichi investigata nel gestire Napoletano (Gestural expression of the ancients in the light of Neapolitan gesturing) by Andrea de Jorio (1832)''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Books edited: *Kendon, Adam, Harris, Richard M., Key, Mary R. (Eds.). (1975). ''The Organization of Behavior in Face-to-Face Interaction''. The Hague: Mouton. *Kendon, Adam (Ed.). (1981). ''Nonverbal Communication, Interaction and Gesture: Selections from Semiotica''. The Hague: Mouton. *Bichakjian, Bernard H.; Chernigovskaya, Tatiana; Kendon, Adam; & Möller, Anke. (Eds.). (2000). ''Becoming loquens: More studies in language origins''. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang. Selected Shorter publications: *Kendon, Adam. (1967). Some functions of gaze-direction in social interaction. ''Acta Psychologica'', 26, 22-63. *Argyle, Michael, & Kendon, Adam. (1967). The experimental analysis of social performance. In Leonard Berkowitz (Ed.), ''Advances in Experimental Social Psychology'' (Vol. 3, pp. 55–98). New York:Academic Press. *Kendon, Adam, & Cook, Mark. (1969). The consistency of gaze patterns in social interaction. ''British Journal of Psychology'', 60(4), 481-494. *Kendon, Adam. (1970). Movement coordination in social interaction: Some examples described. ''Acta Psychologica'', 32, 101-125. *Kendon, Adam. (1972). Some relationships between body motion and speech. In Aaron W. Seigman and Benjamin Pope (Eds.), ''Studies in Dyadic Communication'' (pp. 177–216). Elmsford, New York: Pergamon Press. *Kendon, Adam. (1980). Gesticulation and speech: Two aspects of the process of utterance. In Mary Ritchie Key (Ed.), ''The relationship of verbal and nonverbal communication'' (pp. 207–227). The Hague: Mouton. *Kendon, Adam. (1983). The Study of Gesture: Some Remarks on its History. In John N. Deely & Margot D. Lenhart (Eds.), ''Semiotics 1981: Yearbook of the Semiotic Society of America'' (pp. 153–164). New York: Plenum. *Kendon, Adam. (1988). How gestures can become like words. In Fernando Poyatos (Ed.), ''Crosscultural Perspectives in Nonverbal Communication'' (pp. 131–141). Toronto: C. J. Hogrefe, Publishers. *Kendon, Adam. (1992). The negotiation of context in face-to-face interaction. In Alessandro Duranti & Charles Goodwin (Eds.), ''Rethinking Context: Language as an interactive phenomenon'' (pp. 323–334). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Kendon, Adam. (1994). Do gestures communicate? A review. ''Research on Language and Social Interaction'', 27(3), 175-200. *Kendon, Adam. (1995). Gestures as illocutionary and discourse structure markers in Southern Italian conversation. ''Journal of Pragmatics'', 23(3), 247-279. *Kendon, Adam. (1997). Gesture. ''Annual Review of Anthropology'', 26, 109-128. *Kendon, Adam. (2000). Language and Gesture: Unity or Duality. In David McNeill (Ed.), ''Language and Gesture: Window into Thought and Action'' (pp. 47–63). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Kendon, Adam. (2013). History of the Study of Gesture. In Keith Allan (Ed.), ''Oxford Handbook for the History of Linguistics'' (pp. 71–90). Oxford: Oxford University Press. *Kendon, Adam. (2015). Gesture and sign: Utterance uses of visible bodily action. In Keith Allen (Ed.), ''The Routledge Handbook of Linguistics'' (pp. 33–46). London: Routledge. *Kendon, Adam. (2017). Pragmatic functions of gestures: Some observations on the history of their study and their nature. ''Gesture'', 16(2), 157-175. *Kendon, Adam. (2019). Gesture and anthropology: Notes for an historical essay. ''Gesture'', 18(2-3), 142-172.


See also

*
Nonverbal communication Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact (oculesics), body language (kinesics), social distance (proxemics), touch (Haptic communication, haptics), voice (prosody (lingui ...
*
Gesture A gesture is a form of nonverbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or othe ...
*
Ray Birdwhistell Ray L. Birdwhistell (September 29, 1918 – October 19, 1994) was an American anthropologist who founded kinesics as a field of inquiry and research.Danesi, M (2006). Kinesics. ''Encyclopedia of language & linguistics''. 207-213. Birdwhistell co ...
* Eliot Chapple * Cornelia Müller


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kendon, Adam 1934 births 2022 deaths Scientists from London Linguists from England British semioticians Alumni of the University of Oxford