Discourse of Silence
Mar 1998 · Pragmatics & Beyond New Series Book 49 · John Benjamins Publishing
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The book deals initially with the interpretation of the silent answer to a question. From a semiotic approach to the contrast between silence and speech mainly within a Greimasian framework, the discussion turns to the application of pragmatic tools such as conversational analysis and adjacency pairs to the interpretation of silence. A model is presented which attempts to explain the observers cognitive competence, and its limits, in being able to interpret the silent answer. A basic distinction is also made between intentional silence (the refusal to answer) and non-intentional silence (the psychological inability to answer).
The interpretation of silence is extended from a theoretical viewpoint to an analysis of various discourse types. Firstly, silence in the legal world: the accuseds and the witnesss right of silence, the right of legal authorities to silence the broadcasting of direct speech. The author then analyzes the silencing of characters in a literary text (Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice), in a biblical text (Moses and his speech impediment in Exodus), in opera (Moses silence in Schoenbergs opera Moses und Aron) and in the cinema. Here, after the initial discussion of Ingmar Bergmans The Silence, focus is shifted to the generation gap and the representation of silence by song in Mike Nichols The Graduate.
The interpretation of silence is extended from a theoretical viewpoint to an analysis of various discourse types. Firstly, silence in the legal world: the accuseds and the witnesss right of silence, the right of legal authorities to silence the broadcasting of direct speech. The author then analyzes the silencing of characters in a literary text (Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice), in a biblical text (Moses and his speech impediment in Exodus), in opera (Moses silence in Schoenbergs opera Moses und Aron) and in the cinema. Here, after the initial discussion of Ingmar Bergmans The Silence, focus is shifted to the generation gap and the representation of silence by song in Mike Nichols The Graduate.
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