“The Forks” || Australian

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Gesture
  • Place Collected: Baker Berry Library, Dartmouth College, Hanover NH
  • Date Collected: November 12, 2019
  • Country of Origin: Australia
  • Informant: Caroline Elliott

Informant Data: 

  • Caroline Elliott is a female student at Dartmouth College in the class of 2020.  She was born and raised in Rhode Island, though she attended three years of high school in Connecticut.  She studies government and economics, and enjoys skiing, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.  Though she has spent most of her time in the United States, she studied abroad at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia during her sophomore winter (January – March 2018).  She was there with only five other Dartmouth College students and studying with University of Sydney students as part of their summer school, so she was able to meet many Australians.  She took two classes there, an economics course and a statistics course.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: Caroline learned about this gesture during her last week of class while studying at the University of Sydney.  She and her friends (both her Dartmouth College friends and her new Australian friends) were reflecting on the differences between American and Australian culture.  They got onto the conversation of hand gestures, and her Australian friend explained this gesture to her, which she had never heard of before. This gesture has a similar meaning to giving someone the middle finger – it is used to convey disrespect, anger, defiance, and/or mockery.  It used to be a very popular gesture, but now is used less often as people usually just use the middle finger.

 

  • Cultural Context: Australia was at one point a British colony, so the culture of Australia is influenced by British culture.  Great Britain sent prisoners to Australia as early as the late 1700s, particularly to Sydney and its surrounding areas.  Australians are easy-going, laid-back, kind, humble, and straightforward.

Item:

  • The gesture is performed by quickly raising one’s hand, often with a bent elbow, and holding up one’s hand with the back of the hand facing out and the palm facing in.  All fingers are folded in except the index finger and the middle finger, which are held straight and separated into a V shape. This gesture is very similar to a reverse peace sign, as the finger placement is the same but the peace sign is traditionally performed with the palm facing out.

Associated file (a video):

Collector’s Comments: This gesture does not seem to be very related to the cultural context of Australia, as Australians are typically easy-going and laid-back.  However, most cultures do have some gesture to convey defiance and anger and it does fit in with Australia’s value on being pretty straightforward and direct when communicating.  After learning about this gesture from Caroline, I noticed that many people at school (including myself) use this gesture when they walk by someone they know as a form of acknowledgment or a casual hello.  I find this very interesting, as it really shows that a gesture that would be very offensive in one culture is harmless and kind in another.

Collector’s Name: Avery Vanacore

Tags/Keywords: Australia, gesture, rude, defiance