BODY AS A MEANS OF IDENTITY

Nonverbal communication comprises of the totality of the nonverbal stimuli formulated by the source acted in particular settings that suggest coded messages for the receiver. As nonverbal signifiers, these messages both tacitly and explicitly represent the kind of values the subjective self intend to transmit. Similarly, such conveyance in a communication process may stem from the source’s affiliation in a broader collective formation that has its own symbolic entailments. In this regard, the signified message represents a much wider community that the source identifies with. At the core of this research lies the understanding that nonverbal marks expresses who we are and what we identify with. Both the self-conception and how we intend to come across are represented in certain physical marks including our body gestures, the artifacts we carry, the pitch and tones of our voices, and the limits of space we occupy. These identity configurations in a communication process create impressions on who we are while some of these expressions are more controllable than the others. Among the social and cultural identities that this research aims to explore are gender identities, national identities, religious identities, class identities, and personal identities.