Because of its ambiguous function and usage, silence is a major source of intercultural miscommunication, which frequently leads to negative judgments, and breeds stereotypes. Grounded in a cross-cultural and interactive framework, I conducted a five-month descriptive qualitative study, which explored silence perceptions among Chinese, Korean, Russian, Colombian and Iranian ESL speakers, and Canadian native-speakers of English (NS). Multiple perspectives were investigated using stimulated recall, in a context of intercultural mentoring sessions and interviews. Eight ESL 'silence producer' participants were asked to explain their silence use, and their interpretations were compared with the functions attributed to these silences by other participants, one from the same cultural background as the 'silence producer', and a NS. Participants' silence perceptions were described, and most negatively-interpreted silences were identified. Analysis revealed intra-cultural acrimony, that high language proficiency perceptions increase negative silence attributions, cross-cultural differences in attitudes towards fillers, and the systematic silencing of ESL speakers.

Cette recherche exploratoire a comme objet le silence et sa contribution à la rencontre entre les êtres humains. En première partie, la recherche documentaire issue de corpus autant philosophique qu'en étude des communications et en sociologie politique, met en contraste l'expérience du silence social et l'expérience phénoménale du silence. D'une part, à titre d'agent structurant l'ordre d'une société, le silence est bien souvent déterminé par le contexte des interactions et il renforce les rôles dictés par le théâtre social. Dès lors, la marginalisation et l'obligation au mutisme qui en découlent se posent comme thèmes importants dans ce mémoire. D'autre part, l'expérience phénoménale du silence, vécue au plus intime de soi, insère une part d'indéterminé dans l'expérience d'être au monde et rend l'individu synchrone aux phénomènes du monde. La deuxième partie du mémoire ancre ces considérations conceptuelles dans un terrain centré sur l'approche biographique auprès de trois collaborateurs. Les récits de vie sont recueillis et analysés dans les règles de la démarche phénoménologique en recherche et de la théorie ancrée. La comparaison thématique émanant des récits, mise en lien avec la littérature sur le silence, fait émerger les grands constats suivants: le silence conventionné ou, dans une autre registre, le silence défensif, sont des obstacles à la rencontre tandis que l'expérience phénoménale du silence est, en soi, relationnelle; la symbolisation du silence guide pour beaucoup l'expérience que l'individu en fera, et les implications du silence bien qu'elles diffèrent selon que l'on considère le silence intérieur -individuel-et le silence extérieur -du monde -s'interpénètrent lorsqu'il s'agit de la disponibilité à les apprécier. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Silence, Expérience, Rencontre, Disponibilité, Communication sociale, Communication interpersonnelle, Adaptation, Conditionnement, Exclusion sociale.

Ce mémoire s'articule autour de la question suivante : comment le poème peut-il procéder à l'élaboration d'un langage dont le souffle, la voix et la présence dans l'espace non seulement s'ancrent dans le corps, mais se construisent à partir des arts du corps? Tout au long de mon travail d'écriture, j'approche cette question en la considérant au moyen de la pratique et de la théorie du mime corporel d'Étienne Decroux. En première partie du mémoire, le recueil Portrait d'homme met en scène une voix féminine. Dans un contexte urbain, celle-ci élabore le portrait d'un homme blessé, défait; sujet plus ou moins réduit au silence, et plus ou moins avalé par la ville qui l'englobe. C'est pourtant sur fond de mutisme que se dessine la relation de la femme à l'homme. Ce travail d'approche se lie pour elle et pour lui à l'expérience de la solitude devant l'autre, expérience d'où surgit la nécessité de la voix. Le mime, dans ce contexte, figure pour les sujets la possibilité de réapprendre à s'exprimer à partir de leur corps, tant en relation avec le corps de l'autre qu'avec la pluralité des corps que chacun porte en lui-même. De poème en poème, Portrait d'homme fait ainsi le récit de ce qui, par la souffrance et par l'amour (dévoilés dans leur clarté au travers du mime), rapproche les sujets à la fois de ce qui les constitue et les différencie. L'essai qui suit, intitulé Cet homme blême qu'on porte en nous quand on est de la ville, vise à présenter la trame de fond de mon écriture et la condition de la voix dans des contextes urbains saturés par la technologie, où le corps subit la pression des non-lieux reliés aux habitudes de la société de consommation. Je m'y intéresse avant tout à la perte de soi, et à la réappropriation de soi par le double biais d'une appartenance à la collectivité et d'une éthique du don, en prenant à témoin des œuvres telles l'essai de François Bon sur le travail de Edward Hopper, les livres de Kathy Acker, le travail de l'École de mime de Montréal et l'héritage d'Étienne Decroux. À l'intérieur de cette approche, le poème et le mime dévoilent un corps marqué par sa fragilité et par l'isolement, l'absence à soi-même, le retranchement ou l'effacement auxquels sans cesse on le reconduit. La reconstruction de la parole par l'écriture - recherche de la voix, de sa justesse et de sa subjectivité - conduit à reconnaître pourtant, au sein même de ces conditions difficiles, un lieu d'accueil pour le vivant. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : subjectivité, voix, mime, résistance, silence, mutisme, parole, écriture, engagement, corps.

This thesis approaches the work of American avant-garde composer John Cage from an unconventional perspective by utilizing rhetorical theory to examine the intellectual history informing his collected writings in the text Silence (1961). That historical period encompasses the whole of the commonplace art movement, which sought to have everyday items and experiences supplant art objects. In applying Lloyd F. Bitzer’s theory of the rhetorical situation to the history of the art of the commonplace, a new concept of influence between artists emerges, one where exigences and situations shape popular notions of art. Briefly stated, a recurring exigence appeared throughout this period, bringing with it the necessary parameters for the inclusion of the commonplace within the realm of the art. From William Wordsworth, Walt Whitman, and Ralph Waldo Emerson through to Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol, this exigence can be seen constraining the actions of artists towards a fitting, persuasive method. It is in John Cage that one finds this new method. Demonstrated through numerous examples of Cage’s work, this methodology skews the traditional perception of the artist, forgoing the ego, invoking indeterminacy and using structure to emphasize the process of composition itself. This enabled pieces of music and writing that lacked any discernable intention and therefore invited readers to engage the material therein for what it was originally: sounds and words. The result is, at long last, a persuasive and compelling reason to accept commonplace experiences alongside art works and it is evidenced by the Pop movement that would follow shortly thereafter.

This thesis approaches the work of American avant-garde composer John Cage from an unconventional perspective by utilizing rhetorical theory to examine the intellectual history informing his collected writings in the text Silence (1961). That historical period encompasses the whole of the commonplace art movement, which sought to have everyday items and experiences supplant art objects. In applying Lloyd F. Bitzer’s theory of the rhetorical situation to the history of the art of the commonplace, a new concept of influence between artists emerges, one where exigences and situations shape popular notions of art. Briefly stated, a recurring exigence appeared throughout this period, bringing with it the necessary parameters for the inclusion of the commonplace within the realm of the art. From William Wordsworth, Walt Whitman, and Ralph Waldo Emerson through to Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol, this exigence can be seen constraining the actions of artists towards a fitting, persuasive method. It is in John Cage that one finds this new method. Demonstrated through numerous examples of Cage’s work, this methodology skews the traditional perception of the artist, forgoing the ego, invoking indeterminacy and using structure to emphasize the process of composition itself. This enabled pieces of music and writing that lacked any discernable intention and therefore invited readers to engage the material therein for what it was originally: sounds and words. The result is, at long last, a persuasive and compelling reason to accept commonplace experiences alongside art works and it is evidenced by the Pop movement that would follow shortly thereafter.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Charlotte, N.C., 2002. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 218-222).

Silence has been identified as a defining characteristic of Asian students in second language contexts. Recent qualitative studies in this area indicate that taking this as a generalisable characteristic of Asian learners may be an over-simplification. Therefore, there is a need to rethink Asian students’ silent behaviour in learning interactions. Problem-based learning (PBL) provides a high level of communicative demand; however, no in-depth qualitative work has been done to date on students’ silence in PBL tutorials in Asian contexts. Given this lack of research, this study investigates students’ silence in PBL interactions in an Asian English medium of instruction (EMI) university. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to explore the functions of silence and factors contributing to silence in PBL small group interactions. In this research, a sociocultural theoretical orientation formed the foundation for the conceptualisation of silence in situated learning. A case study was conducted to investigate the complexities and subtleties of silence in PBL interactions. The focus of the case was first year students’ experience of PBL tutorials in an undergraduate dental curriculum. A variety of data, including questionnaires, post-survey interviews, observations, audiovisual recordings, and stimulated recall interviews, were collected. Analysis of over twenty hours of PBL tutorials then drew upon traditions from interaction theories and studies of silence to provide an explanatory perspective. Thus, students’ silence in PBL interactions was examined from communicative functional and critical perspectives. From a communicative functional perspective, findings indicate that students’ silence in PBL interactions is not only a means of non-participation or an effect of possible constraints, but is also enacted as a learning and communicative strategy. Based on this understanding of silence for communication and learning, the issue of silence was further explored based on critical discourse analysis. Data analysis indicates that students’ silence occurred when multiple identities, shifting relations, and a specific learning and professional community in an Asian EMI context were constructed, challenged, and reconstructed in PBL discourse. Two key factors were found to influence students’ silence in PBL tutorials: the immediate contextual factor and the power relation. This study has theoretical and practical significance for higher education pedagogy. Findings underline the importance of investigating silence in depth in order to compose a more insightful picture of interaction in small group learning. The study also develops insights into a proposed re-conceptualisation of silence in PBL discourse and offers a novel viewpoint to locate the issue of silence in small group interactions for PBL. Lastly, based on the analysis of a substantial body of qualitative data, this study has increased understandings of student silence in PBL tutorials in an Asian EMI university. Such a study not only contributes towards theorizing silence in higher education but also provides teaching staff and education policy makers with useful information about learners in small group learning in an EMI context. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Through the use of autoethnography (Bochner & Ellis, 2000) and ethnodramatic performance (Saladana, 2003) this thesis presents an articulation of how the practice of meditation and silence influences identity and communication. Through self-reflection, interviews and conscious performance, I hope to contribute to literature describing health geographies and wellness communication. The data for this paper was collected during ethnographic fieldwork conducted at Bodhi Zendo, a Zen Meditation Centre located in the hills of Kodaiknal, in the province of Tamil Nadu on the southeastern coast of India. During a four-week period between December 1st 2012 and January 2nd 2013, I participated as a practitioner and researcher where I conducted interviews with other retreat participants, documented my own experiences, and recorded my own and other participants' reflections through photography, video, and self-reflective field notes. During my time at the Zen Centre I meditated for ten hours daily and I completed both a silent mini-sesshin and a silent sesshin . This paper includes thoughts and experiences prior to the fieldwork in India as well as thoughts and reflections experienced during the five months upon returning home to Canada. The pupose of this paper is to demonstrate the experience of self through a meditative lens and describe the liminal and transformative states between silence and sound.

This study provides a new reading of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Prioress’s Tale and considers its purpose within the context of the Canterbury Tales. I argue that the Tale, as an exemplum, demonstrates the dangers of tale-telling, and exposes the moral discrepancies of the Canterbury tale-telling competition and the pilgrims’ use of stories as verbal assaults against one another. I argue that the Tale condemns the unchristian-like “actions” of the Christians within its frame as they respond to the clergeon’s murder; the Tale’s ending presents a cathartic response from this congregation, which indicates their understanding of the clergeon’s martyrdom. It also provokes a similar response from the Canterbury pilgrims, which serves to silence them, and to create a paradox that disrupts possible responses to the Tale. Further, Chaucer’s Retraction at the end of the Tales is intended to silence the poet’s critics through the creation of a similar paradox.

Following World War II the novel faced a crisis in its mode of address. How could the human and humane function of language and artistic representation be lent to the depiction of historical terror or trauma? Who has the right to speak on behalf of – or to assume the voice of – victims of such real atrocity? And to what extent can a writer attend to another's pain without aestheticising extreme vulnerability, or losing the reader to indifference or repulsion? The difficulties confronted by the writer of fictional works when addressing such issues as war, rape, domestic abuse, colonisation, slavery, even genocide are not rooted in an inadequacy of syntax; rather they are borne out of the disjunction between the idealistic assumptions that linked language to a sense of humanity, intelligence and the pursuit of goals beneficial to society as a whole, and the extremity of recent acts of human atrocity as conducted not by the savage Other but by modern societies with which the reader would otherwise identify. Since the mid-twentieth century a number of writers have responded to these challenges by forgoing the traditional dialogic form of the novel and electing characters that cannot or will not speak in order to convey, through their speechlessness and – at times – their damaged physicality, the extent of the violence and oppression to which they have been subjected, and the difficulty of assimilating such violence into the stories by which communities, indeed whole nations, define themselves. The unexpectedly large cast of mute characters suggests that silence has a vital role in the literary portrayal of historical trauma. The prevalence of silence in contemporary fiction related to the Holocaust, for example, shows how this group of writers recognises the extent to which this event tested and continues to test literary exploration. Writers the world over continue to refuse to ignore these subjects – indeed, the broken images and fragmented forms common to many of the novels studied in the following pages can be seen as an apt response to the chaos of war and human aggression – but, as is evident from the number of contemporary works of fiction incorporating a mute character, silence has become an accepted and effective tool for the portrayal of historical events of terror or trauma that continue to challenge the ethical boundaries of the imagination.