Home Signs: An Ethnography of Life beyond and beside Language

Home Signs is an intimate account of an anthropologist's relationship with his non-verbal son, Charlie, and how it has shaped and transformed his understanding of closeness and communication. It challenges assumptions about nonverbal communication and encourages us to think harder about what it means to lead a "normal" life and connect with another person.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 11 March 2024
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

An anthropologist named Joshua Reno has a unique relationship with his non-verbal son, Charlie. Charlie uses "home signs" to communicate, which are gestures that he developed to meet his need for expression. Despite being nonverbal, Charlie is far from silent; he is constantly communicating with others. In this intimate reflection on language, disability, and togetherness, Reno invites us into his and Charlie's shared world. He challenges assumptions about people who seem not to be able to speak for themselves and explores nonverbal communication in both human and nonhuman contexts. Home Signs encourages us to think harder about what it means to lead a "normal" life and to connect with another person.

Weight: 394g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226831268