Nonverbal Communication Codes

Nonverbal Codes Around The World A Map for Saturday is a documentary that explores the idea of world traveling in the form of backpacking. It features a main character Brook who documents his travels along with the people he meets along the way. As Brook comes in contact with many different people there is all different types of nonverbal communication that takes place. The idea is that a nonverbal code is given and received at many different levels; ones that are known and others that are not known. While there are numerous nonverbal codes that are noticeable throughout A Map for Saturday, there are four that I want to focus on. The first is the proxemics code, which deals with personal space in territory. The next is the chronemics code. The chronemics code is defined as the way time is structured in the communication process. After that, I will discuss how the touching norms, or the haptics code, can vary in the many countries that were featured in the documentary. Finally, it is important to note the vocalics nonverbal codes that are apparent throughout the entire documentary {Burgoon, Guerrero, and Floyd (2010)}.. With the remainder of this paper, I will strive to give a more in depth look at each of these four nonverbal codes, while giving specific examples from the documentary A Map for Saturday. First, lets begin by looking at the proxemics code. In reference to our textbook it is important for humans to have and maintain adequate space {Burgoon, Guerrero, and Floyd (2010)}. This is most important in a crowded area such as city, which is where most of the documentary takes place. In A Map for Saturday, the need to define your own territory is prevalent throughout each city that Brook travels to. The place that backpackers like Brook commonly stay are hostels. A hostel, as described in the documentary, is basically a building that can house as many people as possible (Silva-Braga, 2007). There are countless bunks in a single room and a single

References: Burgoon, J.K., Guerrero, L.K., & Floyd, K. (2010). Nonverbal communication (1st ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Silva-Braga, B. (Producer), & Silva-Braga, B. (Director). (2007). A Map for Saturday [Motion picture]. United States: Earthchild Productions. (Available from http://www.amapforsaturday.com). McGaan, L. (4, April 2010). Non-verbal codes. Retrieved from http://department.monm.edu/cata/mcgaan/classes/cata101/nonverbal-codes.htm