88 (Melucci 1989, 123)

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(Melucci 1989, 123)

A third element of the body culture is the discovery of relations with the other. As a symbol and instrument of communication, the body is the channel for affects which refuse to be wholly neutralized in the rituals of social interchange. Sexuality is no longer relegated to the obscure level of instinct. Instead, it becomes an essentially human form of communication, one that opens up a broader range of relational possibilities. ’Passion’ loses its negative connotations and is synonymous with a ’feeling’ rooted in the body. Emotions regain their earthly character, nourished as they are by moods, sounds, odours and vibrations. Fear and joy, tenderness and pain are not merely ideas, but tears, breath, warmth, cold and trembling. The human encounter reveals itself as an encounter of bodies and of words. [Melucci, Alberto. 1989. Nomads of the Present. London: Hutchinson Radius.]