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Rudolf Arnheim SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE
THE GESTALT THEORY
OF EXPRESSION
What is the exact location and range of the territory covered by the term
"expression"? Thus far, no generally accepted definition exists. In order
to make clear what is meant by expression in the present paper, it is
therefore necessary to indicate ( 1 ) the kind of perceptual stimulus
which involves the phenomenon in question, and ( 2 ) the kind of
mental process to which its existence is due. This delimitation of our
subject will show that the range of perceptual objects which carry ex-
pression according to Gestalt theory is unusually large and that expres-
sion is defined as the product of perceptual properties which various
other schools of thought consider nonexistent or unimportant.
1. In present-day usage, the term "expression" refers primarily
to behavioral manifestations of the human personality. The appearance
and activities of the human body may be said to be expressive. The
shape and proportions of the face or the hands, the tensions and the
rhythm of muscular action, gait, gestures, and other movements serve
as objects of observation. In addition, expression is now commonly
understood to reach beyond the observed person's body. The "projec-
tive techniques" exploit characteristic effects upon, and reactions to,
the environment. The way a person dresses, keeps his room, handles the
____________________
Reprinted with permission from the Psychological Review, Vol. 56, No. 3,
May, 1949.

-301-

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com

Publication Information: Book Title: Documents of Gestalt Psychology. Contributors: Mary Henle - editor. Publisher: University of California Press. Place of Publication: Berkeley, CA. Publication Year: 1961. Page Number: 301.
    
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