The Power of Silence: Social and Pragmatic Perspectives

by Adam Jaworski

This book provides a theoretical account of a variety of different communicative aspects of silence and explores new ways of studying socially-motivated language. A research overview shows the influence of related work in the fields of media studies, politics, gender studies, aesthetics and literature. The author argues that in theoretically pragmatic terms, silence can be accounted for by the same principles as those of speech. A later, more applied section of the book explores the power of silencing in politics. A concluding chapter shows the importance of silence beyond linguistics and politics in terms of artistic expression. The approach is intentionally eclectic in order to explore the concept of silence as a rich and

Genres: Linguistics

208 pages, Hardcover

First published November 23, 1992

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first academic book I read in full, mainly because Adam Jaworski was lecturing me on silence at the time. He continued to suggest books/articles to me in later years and because I know him personally I am not going to review this book in too much detail. But if you are interested in understanding the function of silence in interaction then this is a good place to start.