Audiobook

Jun 18, 2024 | arts and humanities

About this episode

In 18th century Britain, the old tradition of deep bowing and curtseying as a form of greeting slowly evolved into a brief touch of the cap or head (for men), or quick bob of the body (for women). Simultaneously, a new form of urban greeting was emerging: the handshake. How and why did the handshake gain such popularity, becoming our most standard greeting today? This phenomenon is explored in a new essay published in the journal Urban History and authored by Professor Penelope Corfield of London University. More

Original Article Reference

This audio is a summary of ‘Egalitarian Greetings: The social spread of the handshake in urbanising Britain, 1700-1850’ in Urban History (2024) (doi:10.1017/S0963926821000274) with contributing material from ‘Fleeting gestures and changing styles of greeting: researching daily life in British towns in the long eighteenth century’ in Urban History (2022).

Contact

For further information, you can connect with Professor Penelope J Corfield at penelopecorfield@gmail.com. You can also visit her website at www.penelopejcorfield.com and her Georgian Witnesses website at www.thegeorgiansdeedsandmisdeeds.com

 

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International LicenseCreative Commons License

What does this mean?

Share: You can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format

Adapt: You can change, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

Credit: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

Increase the impact of your research!

More episodes

Dr Nina Gmeiner | 21st Century Trends in Property Regimes: Progressive Commons

The ownership of goods, including both material objects and immaterial goods such as intellectual property, is defined...

Dr Selina Våge | Modelling Microbes to Understand Ecosystem Dynamics and Infectious Diseases

Our brain’s network structure consists of many interconnected regions, each containing billions of neurons. Many...

Professor Eckehard Schöll | Understanding Spontaneous Synchronisation in Epileptic Seizures

Our brain’s network structure consists of many interconnected regions, each containing billions of neurons. Many...

Taher Saif | Dr Andrew Holle – Mechanobiology – Exploring the Mechanics of Cell Behaviour

Extracellular biophysical cues have a profound influence on a wide range of cell behaviors, including growth,...

Dr Stella Laletas | How High-conflict Divorce Can Impact Children: Understanding the Perspective of Teachers

Divorce is commonplace but can have negative impacts on the cognitive, emotional, social and psychological development...

Professor Samantha Punch | Benefits of Bridge: The Partnership Mindsport

Bridge is a popular card game played socially and competitively by millions of people throughout the world. Each game...