Abstract
"Why gesture?" - this question is in the title of the seventh volume of John Benjamins book series dedicated to gesture studies. With two monographs (Gesturecraft by Jurgen Streeck (2009) and Elements of Meaning in Gesture by Genevieve Calbris (2011) and four edited volumes (Cienki & Müller, 2008; McNeill, Duncan, Cassell, & Levy, 2007; Pika & Liebal, 2012; Stam & Ishino, 2011) published so far, the "Gesture studies" book series (edited by Adam Kendon) now constitutes a representative body of texts reflecting the multifaceted nature of this dynamic area of linguistics, that instead of traditional view characterized by the label "non-verbal communication" approaches language in an integrative way, viewing it as multimodal and semiotically diverse communication system.