kissing

nationality

Canadian

occupation / innovator as

semiotician

innovator in the field of

semiotics

Italian

philosopher

 originated in medieval society as an act of betrayal and carnality, as opposed to the sacred act of breathing into the spouse's mouth as an act of fidelity and spirituality.

One of the earliest recorded kissing rituals was the act of blowing kisses in Mesopotamia, which signified 'a means to gain the favor of the gods,' writes Marcel Danesi, professor of semiotics at the University of Toronto and author of The History of the Kiss! He claims that the kiss is not universal, nor is it rooted in our DNA. Instead, he locates the origin of the romantic kiss elsewhere: 'It surfaced in the society of the medieval period as an act of betrayal and carnality, as opposed to the sacred act of breathing into the spouse's mouth as an act of fidelity and spirituality.'

Marcel DanesiThinkers

Marcel Danesi