Engel/Siddons

Finally, I have a chance to peruse Henry Siddons translation of Engel's Treatise on Gesture and Theatrical Action, entitled Practical Illustrations of Rhetorical Gesture and Action. The translation is "Englished" so that examples are in the theatrical vernacular of his audience. Engel's volumes were published in 1785-6, Siddons much later in 1807 (mine is a facsmile of the second, 1822 edition), indeed, just after Austin's system. Perhaps its appearance at this time was a response to Austin, for this work is very much about different expressive gestures and does not begin to approach the systematic nature of Austin's work.

The volume comprises 37 letters and a few appendices. I'll blog as I read, so first, Letter I. The imaginary correspondant objects to this project, since "every thing which is executed by prescribed rules will be formal, stiff, embarrassed, and precise." Our author counters that if you focus on the rules and are just learning you might be awkward, but that with use and exercise, good habits become "a kind of nature"; the same with awkward ones. We might as well study to excel!

Letter II discusses differences in manners among the peoples of various nations and endeavors to find a common ground, as in showing veneration, where the "natural and essential" element, the inclination of the body, is common to all his examples. Modifications are made amongst different nations, but also for the different sexes, people of different ages, and the individual qualities of the person. Engel/Siddons concludes,

The players who wishes to be accomplished in his art should not only study the passions on a broad and general basis; he should trace their operations in all their shades, in all their different varieties, as they act upon different conditions, and as they operate in various climates. (p. 11)

This is good advice for us all, certainly for me, to search for the specific within the broad range of what is true. Not so revolutionary an idea today, but a solid one. And that's my impression of the work so far: solid, a little obvious. We'll see how it develops, and especially if it gets more interesting in light of working on Austin's examples at the same time.