THE EMBRACE: On the Element of Non‐Distance in Human Relations

This article develops the notion that non‐distance is a constitutive element in human relations. The essential difference between body‐engagement as a relation of non‐distance and face‐engagement (comprising eye‐contact and talk) as a relation of distance is demonstrated. Body‐engagement reduces distance and the separate self/body dissolves through touch. The full significance of touch as an encounter and a merging together of bodies is found in the embrace. In it bodies clasp together and draw and press closer to the point where separate and disengaged personal spaces open up and collapse into one common closure. Exploring a broad range of “embrace’ phenomena, beginning with the ordinary ritual of shaking hands, and continuing through whole body embraces, erotic love, and finally communitas and mystical union with the divine, this study questions the possibility of unity between self and other. It suggests that the seed of distance always remains within the moment of non‐distance, yet the growth of the self (the separate, the different) requires the element of non‐distance attained in the unity of the embrace.