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increases. Prosody and visible body movements are also very important
for information structure, that is, structuring a message with regard to
what is important and needs attention and what can be back-grounded
and presupposed. If we compare the list of contents just given for speech
with possible contents associated with visible body movements, we
fi nd that visible communicative body movements can activate and help
share information of all the types mentioned, but, like prosody, they are
especially important for all the dimensions of content not concerned
with factual information, especially emotions and attitudes. Perhaps this
points to a close evolutionary relationship between prosody and gesture.
6.1 Affective aspects of content
Communication does not only involve sharing of factual information.
It also involves sharing of attitudes and emotions. To some extent,
attitudes and emotions are part of what is shared in all types of
communication. However, in some types they are perhaps the main
focus, like in small talk, quarrels or love making, while in others, like
a scientifi c lecture, they have a more subordinate role. Since they are so
pervasive, they play a major role in what we express in communication
which means that understanding how affective-epistemic attitudes, like
interest, surprise, boredom, uncertainty, friendliness or amusement,
are indicated, displayed or signaled (see below) and what reactions,
perceptions, understandings and responses they give rise to is essential.
Some of the main modes of interaction, like coordination, collaboration,
cooperation, competition and confl ict, all depend on emotions and
attitudes. If we want to understand and facilitate these modes of
interaction, we must understand the role of emotions and attitudes in
communication.
6.2 Content in small talk
Social contact is a basic human need. Human beings need social
contact to fully develop. Social contact involves communication. The
content shared in communication can be more or less important. In
some situations, social contact can be more important than the actual
content shared. Contact with other persons becomes the primary
motive for communicating and the topics chosen for communication
in this kind of situation will tend to be such that, depending on
culture and other circumstances, they are seen to be of neutral, general
relevance, like the weather, sports, television, politics, economy or
family. “Small talk” of this kind has sometimes been called “phatic
communion” (cf. Malinowski, 1922), from the Greek (phatos—speech),
where the idea is that “phatic communion” is a kind of fellowship,
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