La brevitas non è certo una invenzione recente. Incisioni e graffiti, fin da tempi remoti, rappresentano forme espressive concise, lapidarie, affidate a supporti che, per loro natura, non lasciano spazio a messaggi di ampio respiro: pietra, muro, manufatti. Tuttavia, la brevità non coincide necessariamente con la (poca) lunghezza: essa ha, al contrario, una propria retorica, stilistica e poetica, poiché riguarda le caratteristiche di una scrittura che tende a una concisione formale ottenuta attraverso specifici fattori di condensazione, sintesi ed economia. Di conseguenza, a dispetto della – o grazie alla – concisione, le forme brevi rappresentano unità di informazione ad alto contenuto. L’estetica del corto è insomma caratterizzata da una ricercata densità semantica, per cui la brevità “non è un ripiego, bensì un punto di forza” (A. Abruzzese) grazie alla sua intensità comunicativa. I contributi del libro prendono in considerazione la brevitas nell’interazione tra modi semiotici differenti (linguaggio, immagini, simboli, oggetti, voce) in ambiti di varia natura: espografica, giornalismo, pubblicità, cinema, traduzione, interpretazione.

This bibliography of semiotic studies covering the years 1975-1985 impressively reveals the world-wide intensification in the field. During this decade, national semiotic societies have been founded allover the world; a great number of international, national, and local semiotic conferences have taken place; the number of periodicals and book series devoted to semiotics has increased as has the number of books and dissertations in the field. This bibliography is the result of a dedicated effort to approach complete coverage.

Language is the species-specific human version of the animal system of communication. In contrast to non-human animals, language enables humans to invent a plurality of possible worlds; reflect upon signs; be responsible for our actions; gain conscious awareness of our inevitable mutual involvement in the network of life on this planet; and be responsibly involved in the destiny of the planet. The author looks at semiotics, the study of signs, symbols, and communication as developing sequentially rather than successively, more synchronically than diachronically. She discusses the contemporary phenomenon that people in today's society have witnessed and participated in, as part of the development of semiotics. Although there is a long history preceding semiotics, in a sense the field is, as a phenomenon, more "of our time" than of any time past. Its leading figures, whom Petrilli examines, belong to the twentieth and twenty-first century. Semiotics is associated with a capacity for listening. This capacity is also the condition for reconnecting to and recovering the ancient vocation of semiotics as that branch of medical science relating to the interpretation of signs or symptoms. The pragmatic aspect of global semiotics studies the impact of language or signs on those who use them, and looks for consequences in actual practice. In this respect, Petrilli theorizes that the task for semiotics in the era of globalization is nothing less than to take responsibility for life in its totality.

The present volume is an excellent introduction to the study of human nonverbal communication, including interaction and gesture, for students and specialists in other disciplines, as well as a convenient compilation of significant contributions to the field for experts. Part 1 includes four articles, the import of which is primarily theoretical or methodological. Part II comprises eight articles in which instances of interaction are examined and attempts are made to explain how the behavior that can be observed in them functions in the interaction process. Part III presents six articles on what may broadly be referred to as 'gesture'. These articles deal with specific actions, mostly of the forelimbs, which are usually deemed to have specific communicational significance. In an introductory chapter, the volume editor, Adam Kendon, not only examines the various issues raised by the eighteen papers but also shows the relevance of each article as a contribution to the development of an understanding of how human visible behavior functions communicatively.