Singing Nature, Dancing Buddha: Zen, Language, and the Groundlessness of Silence

This thesis presents Zen experience as aesthetic in nature. This is done through an analysis of language, a central concern for Zen Buddhism. The thesis develops two modes of language at work in Zen: representational and indexical. What these modes of language entail, the kind of relations that are developed through their use, are explored with recourse to a variety of Zen platforms: poetry, the koan, zazen, music, and suizen. In doing so, a primacy of listening is found in Zen - a listening without a listener. Given this primacy of listening, silence comes to the forefront of the investigation. An analysis of John Cage's 4'33" provides this thesis with justification of the groundlessness of silence, and the groundlessness of subjectivity. Listening allows for the abyssal subject to emerges, which in tum allows for reality to present itself outside of the constitutive function of language.

The dialectic of silence and remembrance in Lily Brett’s ''Things could be worse''

The dynamics of silence and remembrance in Australian writer Lily Brett’s autobiographic fiction Things Could Be Worse reflects the crisis of memory and understanding experienced by both first and second-generation Holocaust survivors within the diasporic space of contemporary Australia. It leads to issues of handling traumatic and transgenerational memory, the latter also known as postmemory (M. Hirsch), in the long aftermath of atrocities, and problematises the role of forgetting in shielding displaced identities against total dissolution of the self. This paper explores the mechanisms of remembrance and forgetting in L. Brett’s narrative by mainly focusing on two female characters, mother and daughter, whose coming to terms with (the necessary) silence, on the one hand, and articulated memories, on the other, reflects different modes of comprehending and eventually coping with individual trauma. By differentiating between several types of silence encountered in Brett’s prose (that of the voiceless victims, of survivors and their offspring, respectively), I argue that silence can equally voice and hush traumatic experience, that it is never empty, but invested with individual and collective meaning. Essentially, I contend that beside the (self-)damaging effects of silence, there are also beneficial consequences of it, in that it plays a crucial role in emplacing the displaced, rebuilding their shattered self, and contributing to their reintegration, survival and even partial healing.

The sight of silence : the conceptualisation of silence in the visual cultures of sign language communities

Deaf people are perceived by hearing people as living in a silent world. Yet, silence cannot exist without sound, so if sound is not heard, can there be silence? From a linguistic point of view silence is the absence of, or intermission in, communication. Silence can be communicative or noncommunicative. Thus, silence must exist in sign languages as well. Sign languages are based on visual perception and production through movement and sight. Silence must, therefore, be visually perceptible; and, if there is such a thing as visual silence, how does it look? The paper will analyse the topic of silence from a Deaf perspective. The main aspects to be explored are the perception and evaluation of acoustic noise and silence by Deaf people; the conceptualisation of silence in visual languages, such as sign languages; the qualities of visual silence; the meaning of silence as absence of communication (particularly between hearing and Deaf people); social rules for silence; and silencing strategies.

The audible and the inaudible : Bob Kaufman and the politics of silence

O poeta americano Bob Kaufman fez um voto de silêncio nas décadas de sessenta e setenta do século passado. Durante quase dez anos, não falou nem escreveu. “The Audible and the Inaudible: Bob Kaufman and the Politics of Silence” (“O Audível e o Inaudível: Bob Kaufman e a Política do Silêncio”) é uma tentativa de ver o silêncio de Kaufman como uma espécie de discurso político em nome das massas anónimas, dos marginais, dos que não conseguem fazer-se ouvir. O ensaio baseia-se, em parte, na obra recente de Jacques Rancière sobre discurso e política. Para Rancière, a política só pode ser exercida através do discurso, através da participação dos que não são vistos como parte activa. No entanto, o silêncio de Kaufman é uma recusa do discurso e da participação; assim sendo, o ensaio procura explorar o silêncio como um discurso político que se mantém socialmente isolado e inaudível, mas procura, ainda assim, reconhecer todos aqueles que continuam a não ter voz nas nossas instituições democráticas.

The Econometric Value of Silence and Noise as Seen by a Non-practicing Marxist

A Collection of Poetry and Fiction

The face of silence,

Mode of access: Internet.

The children of silence; or, The story of the deaf.

Mode of access: Internet.

The fruits of silence : being further studies in the common use of prayer without words, together with kindred essays in worship.

Mode of access: Internet.

The sound of silence. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender discrimination in 'inclusive organizations'

Most studies on diversity and discrimination in the workplace have focused on 'visible' minorities such as gender or race, often neglecting the experiences of invisible minorities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers. In this paper we explore the practices of inclusion/exclusion of LGBTs in the workplace in Italian social cooperatives, which are specifically founded to create employment for people who are disadvantaged in the labour market. The study examines how organizations, which have an ethos focused on inclusion and mainly employ workers from specific social minority groups, manage the inclusion of LGBT workers. We also explore the experience of LGBT workers within these organizations. The paper reports that the culture of silence existing in the five organizations studied prevents LGBT employees from constructing a work identity which encompasses their sexual identity and prevents the organizations from achieving their aim of being fully inclusive workplaces. © 2013 British Academy of Management.