D'avoir trop dit n'en pouvant plus: echoes of silence in 20th and 21st century literature

"My research explores what ""silence"" looks like in 19th- and 20th-century literature. I argue past studies have studied it only at the textual level, linking it to concepts like nothingness, absence or negativity. This is because silence is elusive, commonly defined through athetesis, and because previous research excludes the reader's involvement in creating and perceiving it.

To overcome these limitations, I propose a blend of cognitive and literary approaches to consider the reader's role together with a deeper focus on the levels of narrative, subjectivity and intermediality, inasmuch as unveiling silence's role will foster inclusive narratives, vital for humanities' future.

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