Redukcija pozdravnih gesta u suvremenoj hrvatskoj prozi
Gestures of Greeting and Farewell in Croatian Contemporary Literature

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses gestures which constitute an important part of human communication: gestures used to greet and wish farewell. It is a well- known fact that people express their greetings in many different ways, depending on the formality of the occasion, the culture in which the meeting or farewell takes place, and whether they have family ties or friendly connections with their interlocutors. All people from a certain culture share the same unwritten rules. These rules are considered a part of good manners, and are learned through the process of socialization. In contact with a different culture, an outsider may encounter customs s/he is unfamiliar with. As a result, for this person these rules become more noticeable. When it comes to interpersonal relations, it can be noted that the gestures of greeting represent a direct interactive contact, in which emblematic use of a gesture is most common (@ikić, Antropologija gesta II, 2002: 214). There are numerous examples of greetings used in interpersonal relations. These include greetings used when entering certain premises, such as churches, memorial complexes, or other institutions which lay down a certain way of »greeting «, i.e. regulate behaviour upon entering such places as an expression of respect. A variety of patterns used for expressing greeting or farewell – in relation to either individual( s) or institution( s) – will be examined within literary texts, or rather, within literary systems. These examples will be mainly taken from literature and to a lesser extent from everyday life.

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