NONVERBAL MANIPULATION AND THE PROBLEMS OF ITS DETECTION: THE CASE OF THE GESTURE “TO LAY ONE’S HAND ON SOMEBODY’S HAND”

This article discusses the notion of nonverbal manipulation taking the tactile gesture “to lay (one’s) hand on (somebody’s) hand” as an example. We analyze the meaning and usage of this gesture on the basis of Russian literary fi ction of the 19th–21st centuries and group them into two classes: 1) the performer of the gesture shows that he / she feels something good towards the addressee, he / she tells the addressee something important, or he / she implies sincerity of his / her words; 2) the performer of the gesture propels the addressee to do something or change his / her state of mind (seduction, persistent request, attempt to stop the addressee’s words or actions, examination (of a witness or of a person charged with the commission of a crime), calming, persuasion). In the situations of the second type, nonverbal manipulation is more likely. However, we assume that it is impossible to confi dently regard the communication as manipulative taking into account nothing but the gesture in question itself, since it (a) allows for the combination of diff erent meanings and functions in a single context; (b) may be misinterpreted by the addressee; (c) can perform a certain function in diff erent communicative acts.