The meaning and origins of applause, the gesture of clapping

Clapping is a universal gesture which tells the story of humanity: from the instinctive call of primates to the sacredness of ancient rites, from the theater of Dionysus to Roman politics, up to today’s stadiums and social media. From the sacred ritual of theantiquity from the stages of modern theatre, to contemporary stadiums and squares, applause tells how human beings have learned to translating collective emotion into soundto organize consensus and, sometimes, to manipulate it. Its form and meaning have transformed over time, following the logic of candiesfrom the religion and of social control. But man has transformed this gesture into a symbolic act: already in Book of Psalms (Bible, 11th century BC) we read “All people, clap your hands! Acclaim God with shouts of joy”. Human applause therefore becomes sacred acclamationa way to celebrate the divine presence and discharge emotional excess through the body.

When applause was born in Ancient Greece and Rome: from theater to politics

In ancient Greecethe gesture acquires a public and codified function. In the theater of Dionysusup to 14,000 spectators expressed enthusiasm and emotion by clapping their hands and shouting. It is in this context that applause becomes one conscious practice of artistic approval.

TO RomeHowever, the gesture does politicizes. Emperors, like actors, needed the crowd consensusand the applause became the visible measure. Already in 1st century BC, Guide he observed that “the feelings of the Roman people are best shown in the theatre”. The people communicated with sound: the rhythm, volume and duration of the beat described the moods of the plebs better than a modern political poll. Emperor Augustus he came to regulate the applause with precise signals, to avoid chaos, and Nerolover of theatricality, paid thousands of applause professionals, without rings so as not to distort the sound, to rhythmically mark three types of applause: the “bricks”, the “tiles” and the “bees”, each with a different meaning and symbol. The gesture therefore seems to take on a performative dimensionno longer just an expression of emotion, but participation tool.

Marcel Mauss And André Leroi-Gourhan they have in fact underlined how bodily gestures become progressively “body techniques”that is, actions learned and transmitted culturally. Clapping your hands, from an emotional signal, is thus transformed into a codified act, full of social meanings.

The birth of “paid” applause

THE’applausea symbol of consensus, soon also became one goods. Already Plutarch says that the playwright Philemon of Syracuse he enlisted paid spectators to clap at strategic moments, thus outdoing his rival Menander. In the Imperial Rome the applause reaches its maximum splendor as language of power. Suetonius and Cassius Dio say that the emperors valued the own consent from the roar of the crowd: the louder the noise, the stronger the authority appeared. Thus the gesture, born spontaneously, was transformed into a political instrument, a choreography of consensus designed to represent the unity of the people around the sovereign.

This tradition survives for centuries: in Five hundredthe French poet Jean Dourat brought the practice back into vogue by buying tickets to give to those who promised applauseIn the 19th century then real ones were born agencies claqueurs professionalsespecially in Paris and Milan.

The La Scala Theatre In the 1919 he even had a official price list: 25 lire for men and 15 for women. The applause, in short, was no longer just a sign of approval, but a market and public image strategy.

From medieval sacredness to modern theatricality

With the spread of Christianity, the applause underwent a radical transformation. Bodily expressions of approval were progressively replaced by verbal acclamations or gestures of reverencesince clapping was considered too “earthly” behavior. Only starting from Renaissancewith the revival of the performing arts and the public dimension of the theatre, applause re-emerges as a social practice.

In modern erathe gesture is codified again: nei bourgeois theaters of the nineteenth century it becomes a sign of distinction and civilization. Applauding politely, in the appropriate time and manner, becomes one form of aesthetic and moral education. It is in this period that applause takes on the meaning we attribute to it today: publicly recognize the value of an action or an individual.