Social Distancing in an Interactive Approach: A Typology and Functions of Visual Representations of the Concept

Małgorzata Karwatowska; Ewa Głażewska

doi:10.18290/rh247206.3

Published : 2024-09-18

Vol. 72 No. 6 (2024)

Social Distancing in an Interactive Approach: A Typology and Functions of Visual Representations of the Concept

Małgorzata Karwatowska

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5582-3758

Ewa Głażewska

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8431-7969

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rh247206.3

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyze visual representations of the concept of social distancing on the basis of material retrieved from the Internet. The examples cited in the text primarily refer to verbal expressions and nonverbal signs operating in English-speaking countries. In the first part, we will introduce the reader to the broader context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly changed the meaning of the term social distancing. In the next part, we draw on the theoretical work of Erving Goffman and analyze the practice of maintaining social distancing as a kind of interaction ritual. In the third part, we will place the concept of social distancing within the framework of Edward T. Hall’s proxemic research. The final section of our discussion will analyze visual images referring to social distancing featured on COVID masks and other artifacts. We also propose our own typology of these visual representations of social distancing and the functions they serve.

Keywords:

social distancing, proxemics, COVID-19 pandemic, visual representations, masks, social interactions

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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