Wearing a smile on one’s face can
denote many things in various cultures, many of which have nothing to do with
mirth at all. In the introduction to A Brief History of the Smile every
variation and historical context of the smile is introduced by the author,
Angus Trumble. Not only does he tease the reader with quips beginning in 14
century Islam, but he explores research insights into male and female patterns
surrounding the grin, manners of Europe, outrages of cross-cultural
misunderstandings, the issue of animals and the baring of teeth in grin or
grimace, and even explores the linguistic and neurological characteristics of
the smile.

The book begins as a lighthearted and charming
chronicle of the way in which we use muscles in the face to convey messages to
each other. "This book is about smiling in the broadest possible sense,"
and so the subsequent chapters explore this promise from the voluntary,
involuntary, real or fake smile. A smile can be friendly, sexy, deceiving,
insane, in good taste or bad.

The book is arranged thematically
with each chapter exploring a topic that relates to one of the characteristics
of the smile.  Once the reader leaves
the rather inclusive and diverse précis of the Introduction, the history of the
smile narrows and becomes more of a European history of manners and art, with
an emphasis on the up turned lip.

Chapter One, Decorum, explores the
manners behind the smile, especially how they relate to modesty and
respectability–which smiles are offered in good faith and which are a cover
for darker aspects of society. I particularly enjoyed the treatise about smiles
between servants and their mistresses which were to be "avoided since the
servant faced the risk of being thought too familiar {…}and the master overly
unctuous." Angus covers Jean-Batiste de la Salle’s passages on "The
Mouth, Lips, Teeth and Tongue" and gives an interesting overview of the
16-17th century European general outlook on what is considered rude or proper
about every orifice of the face and head. This included anything that issues
forth from those orifices, including mucosa from the nose and lungs.

Much of the first chapter covers
the history of masks, Greek art beginning in the fifth century BC and how they
might have influenced post-Classical societies of the West. After that
historical account, the author begins a course on art and artist appreciation
spanning the 15th to the 19th centuries. The most notable of his commentaries
is, of course, Leonardo’s Mona Lisa.

Chapter Two covers Lewdness. Angus
begins with the Dutch and Flemish paintings of the chicken groper (a boy
groping a hen)–which men of the day thought hilarious because of the double
entendre of the Dutch word for bird meaning also "penis" and "screw."
Almost four pages are devoted to this 15 to 17th century hilarity and it is,
frankly, three pages too many. We learn about Frans Hal’s "The Lute
Player," Messa’s "Portrait of an Unknown Man," and Ribera’s "A
Girl Playing Tambourine" and how their lewd grinning represent the 17th
century genre of tavern/low life art associated with lewd grinning. Of interest
was the mid 19th century Gothic Revival in art, headed by English clergymen,
and their uncovering of the naked female figure ornamenting many churches. This
chapter went off on a historical look at early naked art, folklore and
witchcraft that, although interesting, had little to do with a smile.

The Third Chapter, Desire, finally
expanded the western European boundaries and brought in a look at Japanese,
Islam and Hindu cultural contexts for smiling. Chapter Four, Mirth, dealt with
the thin line between the smile and a full-blown laugh. We learn of the
scientific study of the human face popularized by Lavater’s book,
Physiognomical Fragments, and more laboriously we learn of the linguistic
history of the verb ‘to smile,’ ‘to grin,’ and ‘to laugh’ from the Scottish to
the Yiddish derivatives and everything in between.

Chapter Five, Wisdom, begins with
smiling depictions of the Budda and extends to Desiderio da Settignano’s
smiling marble cherubs. Chapter 6, Deceit, reveals humanity’s ability to
deceive through a smile and how that affects advertising and all manner of
manipulation. The concluding Chapter Seven explores "Happiness" and
the smile. "We have made a concerted effort to exploit the powerful
effects of the smile to make other people happy, with mixed success," the
author tells us.

Actually, I met the book with mixed
success. The book was written in such a pernickety manner that I surmised that
the author must be English. I try not to read about an author until after I’ve
read their book so that I am not influenced by any preconceived ideas I might
have regarding credentials and background. Angus turns out to be Australian and
lives up to his billing as a "Curator" of European paintings and
sculpture. He was stuffy in places, very much more a lecturing style than easy
flowing informational style, and retrieved information fit for university
classes, not reading masses, in a book on smiles.

I liked the book and loved a lot of
the information. I hated the lecturing style on the history of art and
literature.  A Brief History of the
Smile was more a textbook than entertainment. I would have preferred more
peeks into, and commentary on, animal and evolutionary influences on why and
how we smile. All in all, the book contained a lot of interesting information
and lot of uninteresting information. And yes, I would walk a smile to read it.

©
2005 Shelly Marshall

Shelly Marshall, B.S., CSAC is
an Adolescent Chemical Dependency Specialist and Researcher. You can visit her
sites at www.day-by-day.org and www.YouAreATarget.com

Categories: General