Folklore Form/Genre: French gesture Informant: Emmanuelle (“Emma”) Loulmet
Name: This gesture of a clenched first and arm movement is an insulting gesture!
Place of Discovery: Hanover, NH
Informant Data: Emma Loulmet is a 21-year-old female born on April 23rd, 1997, in Paris, France. Emma was born in France and has lived in Paris for most of her life. For high school, she attended a boarding school in Reims, the capital of the Champagne region. Emma moved to the United States for her undergraduate studies. Emma is an Economics major at Dartmouth.
Contextual Data:
- Cultural context: French gestures tend to be fairly expressive in nature.
- Social context: French individuals will use this gesture to say “F*ck you!”
Item: The item presented here is a video of Emma demonstrating the French gesture. I recorded this interview with an iPhone. All of the information provided in this write-up is an accurate depiction of the knowledge I obtained while speaking with Emma.
Transcript: “I first saw this experience when I was 10-years-old. My cousin and I were playing with toys and we got into an argument. And then she used this gesture. I didn’t know what it meant at the time but I started crying and soon learned what it meant.”
Informant’s Comments: This is an insulting gesture used in France. This gesture is not used much, but it is known to be a gesture that has negative connotations.
Collector’s Comments: We see this gesture used across many European countries, and is even used in the United States.
Collector’s Name:
Jordan Siegal
HB 4020 Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH 03755
Dartmouth College
Tags/Keywords:
- Gestures
- France
- Insulting
- Hand
- Fist