MODES OF COMMUNICATION

When Words Fail to Speak...

WRITTEN BY KANZA BATOOL HAIDER

Guernica-Painting by Pablo Picasso in response to bombing at Guernica. 

PAINTING: Picasso's Guernica Exposing Nazi's Brutality to the World

It was a time when there rouse a hue of miserable plea and cry. The place of Guernica was subjected to open blasts and killings by hands of the Germans and the Italian War planes. Innocent civilians were the fuel to the fire created out of the conflict between the Spanish nationalists and the Republicans. At this time the only thing that drew worldwide attention towards the barbarism and the condition of Spain, was the work of Pablo Picasso- The Guernica….

Guernica being exhibited at the Spanish Pavilion at theParis International  Exposition

Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso. It was created in response to the bombing of Guernica. It shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the vales of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion, Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world's attention.

While living in the Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, Picasso suffered great harassment from the Gestapo, which was the official- secret police of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. One officer allegedly asked Picasso, upon seeing a photo of Guernica in his apartment, "Did you do that?" Picasso responded, "No, you did."

Indeed, a picture paints a thousand words. This was the work that many peace makers couldn’t do, but the painting of Picasso did that all. So it is not just the words that make up the world… there are a lot different ways of expressions that makes difference to the present being. That speaks on its own and brings about revolutionary thought provoking ideas. Guernica is just one example that opened the eyes of the world towards brutality and brought peace within Spain.

What more is here?  How different modes of communication bring about huge changes to this world apart from the verbal communication alone?

MUSIC: Provoking The Sleeping Souls 

There are examples where simple music brought about revolutions within the states. Many revolutions that the world  has seen were fashioned through music. The attempt of provoking the sleeping souls within the masses was done by music. Music, which is just an art, contains in it magical power.

Le Marseillaise, the most famous of the franc’s songs that brought revolution to the country and which has now been made the national anthem of France, was composed by revolutionary leaders who realized that it was a very useful tool for changing the way people think and feel. In 1795 a school was set up to train bands for the army, the National Guard. A new law was passed forcing audiences to sing republican hymns in the theatres before operas were performed. Composers were encouraged to write revolutionary songs- and between 1789 and 1800 more than 1300 were written.

History is replete with examples of classical music acting not as a passive reflection of the times, but as a force for social change. Dmitri Shostakovich, arguably the greatest composer of the 20th century, so frightened and infuriated the Soviet regime with his works that according to biographer Elizabeth Wilson, "He waited for his arrest at night out on the landing by the lift, so that at least his family wouldn't be disturbed."

Qawwali, And The Emergence of Islam

Qawwali- sufi devotional music popular in South Asia

‘Qawwali’, a well known music of Asia, mainly India and Pakistan. Before the partition of the subcontinent, Did anyone ever wonder how did Islam sprang into life in a purely Hindu dominant society? Yes! It is qawwali that is believed to have influenced many Hindus through its sufistic lyrics and charm towards its side. Thus Islam came into existence from between the heart of the subcontinent.

Now, here opens a vast vista when the talk directs to body language.

BODY LANGUAGE: An Illusion It May Be

Body Language is mentioned to be a occult capability of a human psyche which relates to the non verbal actions of human beings, whether these are the gestures , facial expressions or eye moment, the study has reached to become a part of science in this modern scenario . They are signaled by an unconscious mind, without being interpreted in the real environment directly enters the conscious mind of a viewer.

Have you ever wondered just how many ways human beings communicate? If so here are a few facts and statistics about non verbal communication – Body Language.

Mario Pei, estimated humans produce up to 700,000 different signs.

Birdwhistell pioneered the original study of nonverbal communication—what he called ‘kinesics.’ He estimated that the average person actually speaks words for a total of about ten or eleven minutes a day and that the average sentence takes only about 2.5 seconds

Ray Birdwhistell estimates the face is capable of over 250,000 expressions.

M H Krout identified 5,000 distinct hand gestures.

G W Hughes has catalogued 1,000 different postures and their accompanying gestures. According to Wharton University studies, human beings take in information about the world around us through our five senses (actually we have many more than just five that everyone thinks)

Eyes 82%    

Ears 11% 

Other senses     7%    

Retention Verbal 10%

Retention Verbal – Visual 51%

Albert H Mehrabian experimented in the late 60’s and early 70’s and came up with this calculation in terms of how important the non verbal movements, signals and gestures are when it comes to the overall effectiveness of our communication in relaying our message to others.

Words account for only 7%

Tone of voice accounts for 38%

Body language accounts for 55%

CONCLUSION

World is nothing but an illusion. What we see, is not what we see, but the inverted image at the back of our retina. The colour that shows is nothing but the reflection of light unabsorbed. Similarly when we speak of the material world we usually think we are referring to the underlying reality -- the world that we perceive "out there". In fact we are only describing our image of reality. The materiality we experience, the solidness we feel, the whole of the "real world" that we know are all aspects of the image created in the mind; they are part of our interpretation of reality. Paradoxical as it may sound, matter is something created in the mind. So apparently what we intend to show actually becomes the reality outside, though it not certainly be the reality of inside.

So take away a hint to live life after reading this article. Try to make yourself as dauntless as u can, no matter how fearful you are from inside, the world would sing songs of your bravery…

 REFERENCES

www.wikipedia.com
Peter Russell

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