This work takes up where Understanding Body Movement: An Annotated Bibliography left off in mid-1971. The reader is encouraged to consult that work and other bibliographies cited in it for earlier references. We have followed its format, punctuation style, and indexing. Unlike the first volume, however, this bibliography includes published work only, has foreign titles, and is written by a number of annotators; there are, accordingly, variations in abstract writing style. Although this bibliography is composed of original annotations except where noted, and efforts have been made to avoid phrases and expressions from the original sources unless quoted, they may of course sound in many ways like authors’ abstracts or summaries.
The principal objective of this bibliography is not to evaluate works so much as to give readers enough information to determine that the work is relevant to their interests. The criteria for including a work is that it be published, that it be written in one of seven languages we were able to annotate (English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Dutch, and Portuguese), and that it be directly about the psychology or anthropology of body movement. Of course, certain subject areas border or overlap the area of the movement aspects of nonverbal communication, such as, dance therapy, motor learning, dance ethnology, motor physiology, psycholinguistics, ethology, and physical education, to name a few important ones. We have tried to include articles or books from these areas only when they deal in some way with behavioral aspects of movement per se, when they are clearly on “body language,” and particularly research in body language as opposed to clinical or training program reports. Number of titles per author or abstract length is not necessarily an expression of the work’s value. Practical considerations such as time, availability of the work, and individual differences in annotator speed and style have determined the final number and character of the annotations. In the case of about 40 “key” authors, we asked annotators to select their major works because there were so many, and several are largely represented by their books, not their journal articles.
We used many sources to find titles: textbook reference sections, existing bibliographies, computer searches, systematic searches through key journals, and so on. We limited selections to published works partly because these are easier to obtain, partly to keep the project within manageable proportions. When annotators could not find a work, we have, in rare cases, cited it anyway if it appeared clearly relevant. In these cases we tried to verify source information from Books in Print or from corroborating reference lists. We are hopeful that the great majority of researchers and writers on nonverbal communication and kinesics are represented here but refer the reader to Appendix II: “For Further Reference.” Omissions are inevitable but merit our apologies to the authors nonetheless.
Twelve annotators wrote the abstracts and subject-indexed the sources. Titles were selected primarily by the editors who then edited the annotations, wrote the introduction, and compiled the index and appendixes. A small number of annotations were written from prepublication information or by the authors themselves and are so designated. Over 50 abstracts were reprinted from The Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, and we gratefully acknowledge Human Sciences Press, New York City, for permission to reprint them. In virtually all cases the annotations were done from the original sources except for dissertations. One person, Mona Daleo, was responsible for subject indexing and writing brief additional notes on the dissertations from Dissertation Abstracts.
In every way the present volume has been a team effort. We cannot stress enough the essential role of the annotators. They subject indexed the works, made the final decision whether to include them, and wrote the abstracts. They also checked our editings for accuracy. Some annotators covered specific topics, others were assigned diverse works, and one concentrated on the Dissertation Abstracts. We are indebted to them, for this is in great measure their work: Jennifer Andt, Mona Daleo, Patrick Garner, Sarah C. Greenfield, James Hannan, Madeleine Kando, Michael Knoerzer, Jane Daniels Moffett, Francis O’Brien, Jr., Claire Oppenheim, Carlotta Willis, and Christy Wilson. The annotators are a select group: college and high school teachers, dancers, dance therapists, graduate students, social workers. While they did the annotations because they were very interested in the subject, it was still laborious work, especially when combined with busy work or study schedules. We are particularly grateful to Sarah C. Greenfield who also did several title searches for us, to Christy Wilson whose remarkable contribution at the eleventh hour was a blessing, and to Anne Heimlich for her work on the authors index.
This bibliography project has been sponsored by the Institute for Nonverbal Communication Research in New York City and funded by an anonymous grant from a very generous and appreciated person. Those who have supported the Institute itself—the Board of Directors, Advisory Council, and members—have made the project possible. We are most grateful for their support. Susan Morance, one of the people to whom this book is dedicated, worked on Institute projects and on this book, with an intelligence and stamina that made all the difference. Most of all we know that the project would not have come to fruition without the help of our husbands, Sergio and Frank.
Martha Davis and Janet Skupien