LITERARY/CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF SILENCE
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SILENCE AS LITERARY / CULTURAL DEVICE
“And the rest is silence…”
(Shakespeare)
Many times, art in its appeal holds its forte by deliverance of something like silence. The artist/author thus makes a serious use of silence in her /his work. Many times, silence speaks louder than words. There are effects of the unspeakableness. There are moments in our life when trying to conceptualizing the ‘nature of things’, we pause before we could express (for the apparent indescribability of the matter). Again, at times, ironically, we have to rely upon language/signs to express our unspeakableness!
Silence has its all-pervading existence in and around us. It may also be ingrained into the idiosyncrasies of a character in a novel, short story or drama. The use of it may help making a work of art intense and cerebral. The use of it may also make a work subtly subversive.
There is also worth of making cultural valuation of silence. Silence also functions as a means of sign, index, symbol.
Its significance increases in our mind when we consider that noise is the opposite of silence. Someone said: silence can exist without speech, but speech cannot exist without silence. Silence may sometimes lead to ambiguities, but sometimes ambiguities can be solved by silence! Silence is also linked with our health for it lends upon our soul the much needed harmony within. It is associated with and is born out of our ideas, moods, and situations. Though Silence is an abstraction, it has its singular strength of action too. Steiner, Heidegger, Octavio Paz and many other thinkers have highlighted upon the importance of silence in our life. Thus, by contextualization of silence we may justify its worth in our life.
Scholars are requested to submit their papers by following the norms (please read the mode of submission portion of the Call for Papers on our website) FOR PAPER SUBMISION, THE SUBMISSION WINDOW WILL REMAIN OPEN FOR THE PERIOD BETWEEN May, 1, 2022 and May, 15, 2022.
(Papers on subjects other than related with this focus area will not be entertained).
