On Proxemics and Territoriality in Communicative Behaviour of Man - A Communique

Abstract

When Charles Morris defined different branches of semiotics in Founda-tions of the Theory of Signs (1938), he envisaged a triad consisting of: syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. 70 years later this division is not suf-ficient in terms of an educational approach to arranging curricula for teaching students of Humanities or Linguistics. Although the division into the three branches is still valid the sheer amount of data and basic reading that students must amass necessitates more detailed approaches together with making constant references to modern studies in Linguis-tics, Literature, Communication Studies, and Ethnography. Also the amount of field data that students should be familiarised with makes it more than difficult to encompass syntax, semantics, and pragmatics within a comprehensive course that usually in itself is just a part of a wider curriculum. For this reason educational programmes tend to be in-troductory with an intent of broadening knowledge at later stages, but also tend to be more specialised in order to present students with the pos-sibility of applying the necessary knowledge and tools in the analysis of selected materials. The following description of a course is an example of such an approach where students are taught a particular choice of theories relating to human communicative behaviour in order to acquire knowl-edge and the ability to analyse various proxemic and territorial behaviours present in the urban environment.