Beyond Words: Intersections of Silence in Literature, Semiotics and Cultural Discourse

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Wolfgang Stadler Paul Mayr

Beyond Words

Name: Beyond Words
Price: 262.58 AUD
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ISBN: 9781788927406

Intersections of Silence in Literature, Semiotics and Cultural Discourse

Wolfgang Stadler, Paul Mayr

$327.95 $262.58

Hardback

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English

Multilingual Matters
16 June 2026

Sociolinguistics; Communication studies; Semiotics & semiology

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.

Edited by: Wolfgang Stadler, Paul Mayr
Imprint: Multilingual Matters
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 16mm
Weight: 510g
ISBN: 9781788927406
ISBN 10: 1788927400
Pages: 214
Publication Date: 16 June 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Boris Norman: Foreword: Silence Through the Ages Wolfgang Stadler and Paul Mayr: Preface: Silence Revisited Part 1: Literary and Narrative Silences Chapter 1. Amy Singleton Adams and Patricija Corey: A 'Voice Like a Drum': Claiming Creative Silence in Donna Jo Napoli’s Bound Chapter 2. Ornella Kraeme: Silent Sicilian Signore: An Analysis of Silence as the Unspeakable Chapter 3. Rachel Lehmann: (Not) Breaking the Silence: The Foreclosure of 'Rape' in Women’s Trauma Narratives Chapter 4. Wolfgang Stadler: 'I Hope [Your Love] Will Break His Silence': Silences in Bethan Roberts’ My Policeman and its Russian Translation Chapter 5. Eric Kim: Speech Therapy: Animal Silence as 'Restorative Communication' in Anton Chekhov’s Toska Part 2: Cultural Discourses and Representations of Silence Chapter 6. Michal Ornan-Ephratt: The Onomatopoeic Sounds of Silence Chapter 7. Melani Schröter: Visual Representations of Silence Chapter 8. Tiyasha Sengupta: In Between Words and Panels: A Multimodal Investigation of Silence in Poober Akaash Laal Chapter 9. Lucía Romero Gibu: Functions of Silences in Spanish Speakers’ Discourses on Migration-Related Challenges in Germany Reflections and Afterword Rita Rieger: Instead of an Epilogue: One More Word on Silence and Silent Transformations through Reading Paul Mayr and Wolfgang Stadler: Taking Stock – What was this Silence all About?

Wolfgang Stadler is Professor Emeritus of Russian (applied) linguistics and subject-specific language education and a former Dean of the Faculty of Education at Innsbruck University, Austria. Paul Mayr is a Research Associate in Romance linguistics at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.

Reviews for Beyond Words: Intersections of Silence in Literature, Semiotics and Cultural Discourse

This exquisite book uncovers an enigmatic eloquence of silence among languages, cultures, media and art forms. Interweaving literature, linguistics and visual culture, the volume brings together a global cast of scholars to unveil how the unspoken speaks powerfully across stories, symbols and human experience. * Dat Bao, Monash University, Australia *