Beyond words intersections of silence in literature, semiotics and cultural discourse edited by Wolfgang Stadler and Paul Mayr

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Stadler, Wolfgang, editor.

Mayr, Paul, 2000- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Silence in literature.

Silence--Philosophy.

Silence.

Silence (Philosophy).

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Bristol Multilingual Matters [2026]

Summary:

Explores silence in its philological dimensions: as a vehicle of meaning, a narrative device and a medium for expressing or concealing emotion. This book explores how silence occurs across languages, literatures and cultures, fulfilling a wide range of communicative functions. It examines how silence can be collective or individual, intentional or unintentional, conveying meanings that extend beyond words and shaping interaction, perception and expression. The volume investigates the multifaceted nature of silence from literary, semiotic and cultural perspectives, weaving together analyses that reveal its complexity across different media and contexts. The chapters address silences both within and beyond interaction, including interaction-like contexts, encompassing such diverse phenomena as animal silence, the silence of trauma and the iconic phase of silence. Taken together, the contributions provide a comprehensive and multidimensional understanding of silence in auditory and visual forms of expression, and across varied linguistic and cultural contexts

Contents:

Foreword : silence through the ages / Boris Norman

Preface : silence revisited / Wolfgang Stadler and Paul Mayr

Silent Sicilian signore : an analysis of silence as the unspeakable / Ornella Kraemer

(Not) breaking the silence : the foreclosure of “rape” in women’s trauma narratives / Rachel Lehmann

A voice like a drum : claiming creative silence in Donna Jo Napoli’s Bound / Amy Singleton Adams and Patricija Corey

Speech therapy – animal silence as “restorative communication” in Anton Chekhov’s “Toska” / Eric Kim

“I hope [your love] will break his silence” : silences in Bethan Roberts’ novel My Policeman and its Russian translation / Wolfgang Stadler

The onomatopoeic sounds of silence / Michal Ornan-Ephratt

The functions of silences in Spanish speakers’ discourses on migration-related challenges in Germany / Lucía Romero Gibu

Visual representations of silence / Melani Schröter

In between words and panels : a multimodal investigation of silence in Poober Akaash Laal / Tiyasha Sengupta

Instead of an epilogue : one more word on silence and silent transformations through reading / Rita Rieger

Taking stock – what was this silence all about? / Paul Mayr and Wolfgang Stadler

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (De Gruyter Brill, viewed May 14, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version Beyond words

ISBN:

9781788927505

1788927508

9781788927741

1788927745

OCLC:

1582276768

Publisher Number:

CIPO000375574

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license