ABSTRACT WHERE WE CANNOT SPEAK The poetry collection Where We Cannot Speak and the accompanying critical essay “Borges and the Golem Paradox: a Rhetoric of Silence?” explore the theme of language and silence. The poetry collection is written in the voice of the imaginary (but published) poet, Gershon Holtz, who reflects my Jewish heritage and upbringing. The poems articulate the silences of those oppressed by war and persecution, and also the silences of meditation and the ineffable, which can reside in the presence, absence, and margins of the poet’s voice. The collection is comprised of two sections: (i) “The Mantelpiece”, which delves into culture, conflict, and memory; and (ii) “The Beautiful Salon”, which reflects upon themes of place, time, loss, and responses to silences represented in visual art and poetry. The critical essay is concerned with the cabalistic figure of the golem—a human being made in an artificial way by magic art, through the use of holy names. Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges (famous for creating fictitious authors and books) wished that, of all his work, the first stanza of his poem “The Golem”, might be remembered. The essay provides a reading that demonstrates how the poem embodies Borges’ views on the nature of signification, language, and knowledge. The paradoxical outcome is that, just as the golem did not have the power of speech, language conceived of as an instrument for textual golem-making is silent in its capacity to represent the world. The essay concludes with some thoughts on my own poetic practice and links the essay with the poetry collection via the figure of the textual golem, Gershon Holtz. This fictional poet becomes a symbol for the problem of language and representation—interpreted both as what we cannot speak about, and the silences inherent in language itself.

Spinoza a rédigé deux ouvrages majeurs : Le Traité Théologico-politique où il interprète l’Écriture, et l’Éthique où il expose sa philosophie. Contrairement à la règle de conduite de Descartes, Spinoza fait irruption dans le domaine de la Théologie en se mêlant d’interpréter l’Écriture. Nous avons cherché quel était le lien entre ces deux oeuvres dont le style et le ton sont tellement différents. D’autre part, Spinoza a écrit une grammaire hébraïque dont personne ne semble se préoccuper. Nous avons voulu savoir ce que venait faire une grammaire hébraïque dans une oeuvre philosophique. L’analyse de son contenu devrait permettre de savoir si cette grammaire avait pour vocation d’admettre une nouvelle interprétation de l’Ecriture et quelle pourrait en être la portée philosophique. L’examen de la méthode d’interprétation de Spinoza et des résultats obtenus permettra de dire si la publication du Traité Théologico-politique avait pour objet d’introduire « l’Éthique ». Il restera à savoir si la révolution spinozienne a été un fait aussi important que la révolution copernicienne. Si en identifiant Dieu à la Nature, Spinoza a fait une découverte de la même importance, et qu’il aurait, comme Copernic, dévoilé à l’humanité un aspect de la réalité qui avait été ignoré pendant des siècles. La philosophie de Spinoza est-elle le résultat d’une refonte du « Savoir » ou bien n’a-t-il fait que réinterpréter, en les refaçonnant des idées anciennes, pour aboutir à un système qui, quoique parfaitement bien construit, n’aurait cependant aucun fondement ? L’objet de cette étude est de suggérer quelques éléments de réponse en vue de permettre une meilleure approche de la question / Spinoza wrote two major works: the Theologico-Political Treatise in which he interprets Scripture, and the Ethics in which he expresses his philosophy. Contrary to the rule that Descartes imposed on himself, Spinoza bursted in the field of Theology by meddling with the interpretation of Scripture. We have looked for the link between those two works which styles and tones are so different. Secondly, Spinoza wrote a Hebrew grammar which nobody seems to care for. We wanted to understand what the place of a Hebrew grammar was in a philosophical work. The analysis of its contents should allow us to know whether the aim of this grammar was to provide a new interpretation of Scripture and what its philosophical impact could be. The examination of the interpretation method and of the results obtained will enable us to say if the aim in publishing the Theologico-Political Treatise was to introduce the Ethics. There remains to know if the Spinozian revolution was as important a fact as the Copernician revolution. If, by identifying God to Nature, Spinoza made a discovery of the same importance, and if he had like Copernic, unveiled to humanity an aspect of the reality which had been ignored for centuries. Was Spinoza's philosophy a result of a reworking of "Knowledge" or did he just reinterpret, by reshaping them, ancient ideas in order to create a system which, although it is well constructed, would have no basis? The aim of this study is to provide some elements of answer to those questions in order to have a better approach of the question