The Aesthetics of Silence in Cinema

• Autores: Divya Kumar
• Localización: Avanca / Cinema 2012 / Cine Clube de Avanca (dir.), 2012, ISBN 978-989-96858-2-6, págs. 736-744
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • While major texts on film sound have addressed formal and informal structures of silence, the aesthetics of film silencedeserve greater exploration. This paper traces the invention and pursuit of silence across a range of contexts and ina variety of forms: in the specter of the acousmetre and the gestures of the mute character; and in the discontinuities,ellipses and gaps created by the European modernists. The issue of silence is central to the practices, theories andhistories of film sound and to any serious consideration of the complex relations between cinema and modernism.The aesthetics of silence allows artists to move beyond linguistic consciousness and linguistic expression to amystical realm of pure contemplation in which the perceiver indulges in self-forgetfulness. The use of suggestiveemptiness through de-articulation positions the message on the edge of language, meaning and clarity allowing atrans-linguistic, liberated interpretation and an enlightened conscious experience. Thus, silence never exists in itsliteral state but is evoked through rhetoric of silence. Silence is ultimately a rhetoric effect and is defined by the form,which contains it. It enriches both character and narrative offering the spirituality of silence as an antidote to modernlife. The aesthetics of silence is studied in Indian classical and avant garde films and then compared to trends inworld cinema to assess how this stylistic approach seeks to transcend linguistic consciousness and allows a studiedinterpretation that can be diverse, universal and unifying.