Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Silence'

Le silence est au cœur de tous les tissages musicaux, littéraires, cinématographiques. Son importance constitue l’objet de cette étude. En commençant par mettre en perspective la complexité qui lui est inhérente, il est question d’interroger sa place et ses manifestations dans le champ littéraire, puis dans le champ musical pour en arriver au champ cinématographique qui est toujours resté le moteur de cette recherche. Dans un approfondissement portant sur l’un des films de David Lynch, Wim Wenders, John Huston et Milos Forman, le silence est étudié dans son rapport à la voix, aux dialogues, à la musique, au corps, au mouvement, au montage, autour des questions de mémoire et d’oubli, d’imaginaire, d’errance, d’incommunicabilité ou de fracture, d’intimité, d’introversion ou d’extraversion, de protection ou de communion, de masque, d’enfermement, de mort, d’oppression ou de liberté… Ces cas d’étude permettent d’observer le silence dans sa polymorphie, l’évolution des ses valeurs, ses dualités ou la stratification de ses formes
Silence is at the heart of all the musical, literary, movie weaves. This study is based on its importance. Putting first its inherent complexity into perspective enables us to search for its place and expression in the literary field, and then in the musical field to finally reach the movie field that has always been the driving force behind this research. By studying one of the movies by David Lynch, Wim Wenders, John Huston and Milos Forman in much greater depth, silence is to be explored in its connection with voice, dialogues, music, body, movement, film editing, around issues of memory and oblivion, imagination, wandering, incommunicability, break, privacy, introversion or extraversion, protection or communion , mask, imprisonment, death, oppression or freedom ... These case studies allow us to observe silence in its polymorphism, its changing values, dualities or the stratification of its forms

This thesis examines the broad spectrum of silence in three areas - religion, philosophy and sociology. It endeavours to outline the rich tradition of silence - particularly through the monastic and mystical elements - in both Eastern and Western religions. It shows the inter-relatedness of silence to solitude and of action and contemplation. The rise of Irish monasticism is discussed and the growth of the 'silent orders' within the Western Church - the Carthusians and Camaldolese, for example - whose aim was to remain hidden from the world in silence. How important is the virtue of silence in the various monastic Rules? What does the Rule of Saint Benedict say in this regard? There is a sifting of the wisdom of the early Desert Fathers whose ’sayings' on silence are still very relevant for Man's spiritual well-being. Some of the Western Fathers - like Saint Augustine, Saint Ambrose and Gregory the Great add their own perspicacity to an important element in the Christian's life which is a sine qua non for true prayer. It also looks at the Quakers' understanding of silence which plays such a central role in their lives and Meetings. The writings of their founder, George Fox, and some leading modern Quakers, are outlined, The teachings of Dogen are personified in his Shobogenzo and this work has shaped much of the Japanese approach to Zen Buddhism. It will be shown how the Zen tradition links wisdom with silence. Two of the longest chapters deal with the profound insights I discovered in my research of the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches. The former is a resplendent inheritor of the ascetical arm of the early Desert Fathers and includes a close examination of The Philokalia. Orthodox. One cannot pass over the enormous influence which the 'holy mountain' of Mount Athos has had on Greek spirituality and Byzantine worship. The writings of Gregory Palamas, the defender of the hesychasts and their Jesus Prayer formula, are studied along with those of John Climacus and Maximus the Confessor. Russian Orthodox spirituality represents a well of silence. This tradition stretches back a thousand years and gave birth to a strong contemplative and mystical strain. It was influenced by Byzantine trends, especially the Hesychast Movement in the fourteenth century. This form of spirituality is mirrored in the lives of the Saints, one of whom, Seraphim of Sarov (1759-1833) declared: 'No one has ever repented of silence'. A classic, The Way of a Pilgrim, reflects the simplicity and beauty of a layman's spirituality based on the continual recitation of the Jesus Prayer. Monasticism, which became popular at the beginning of the eleventh century in Russia, has had an enduring influence on its spiritual development. I include a study of the Monastic Rule of Iosif Volotsky in relation to the role of silence. Silence is threatened by modern technology and noise pollution. In the chapter 'Noise and Man' I highlight this, detailing the views of sociologists and psychologists. The Swiss philosopher Max Picard feared for the well-being of Man during and after World War Two with the proliferation of mass-media communication. He maintained that the Radio had become the chief destroyer of Man's inner harmony. Television, as a medium of entertainment and education, was appearing on the horizon at the time of his death. His major work, The World of Silence, gives a deep and poetical understanding of silence and its intimate connection with language. The phenomenon of silence and its ontological significance is outlined by American philosopher Bernard Dauenhauer. Silence is not viewed in isolation from other phenomena, but is seen to have an intrinsic relationship with it.

Outline’s Silence: In Search for a Silent Narrator is a Bachelor research paper that hopes to open a discussion about Rachel Cusk’s Outline (2014) and the possibility that an absent and silent narrator could lead to a new and innovative writing mode. The paper bases its theory on Hayden White’s “The Value of Narrativity in the Representation of Reality” (1980) where White argues that moralization is unavoidable as long as there is a narrator in the text (27). Roland Barthes’s theories for a neutral writing mode and the notion of silence as they can be found in Writing Degree Zero (1953) and The Neutral (2002) respectively, are used here as the basis of argumentation. Outline’s narrator and her desire for passivity and silence are analyzed according to Barthes’s theories while its author’s writing is also examined for its neutrality. White’s work is used to support the paper’s argumentation that it is unlikely a narrator will be absent from a narrativized text. The paper concludes that although there is a desire for neutrality and silence both in the narrator’s character and in the author’s writing mode, this proves infeasible to apply in practice.

This research examines the history and theory of silent painting to discover why particular paintings were called silent, what the term was meant to signify, and how the quality of silence was discernible in the paintings it described. The imderstanding thus gauied is in tum the subject of further analysis through (documented) reflective practice, which recognises a broader context of contemporary theoretical and practical viewpoints. The purpose is to investigate, through practice, the characteristics and potentialities of silence. From the emergence of'silent' painting in America during the 1950s and 60s, the idea of silence is examined in terms of its associations with Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism. An initial assiunption that 'silent painting' is simply another way of referring to monotonal painting is at first expanded to accommodate theories promoting the grid as an equally effective device for achieving silence, but then challenged. Questions arise concemmg intention and the lack of it, degrees of silence, the nature of silence, the different ways in which silence can be read, the impossibility of silence, the feeling of silence, and the quality of silence aimed at in my own practice. An overall concem of the research is the integration of theory and practice. The thesis presented here provides an historical and theoretical explication, guided and shaped by questions arising from practice. It includes a critique of the work produced. The scientifically demonstrated argument that silence is impossible is countered by one foimded on feeling. It is on the basis of feeling (not expression) that, in the later stages of the research, suitable strategies are devised for painting silence.

The buildings people inhabit everyday frame their existence and provide a backdrop for life. This relationship is inextricable and, as such, begs the question as to whether buildings can function as more than mere containers for life or whether they, at some point or in some capacity, can begin to bare influence over the life or quality of life of their patrons. This project is an intention to explore this qualitative, unquantifiable aspect of building. Through a manipulation of volume and mass, constriction and expansion, solid and void, light and shadow, and the qualities of interiority and exteriority an occupied space will begin to impress itself upon the user. The main objective of this project is to use these architectural properties to create a place that fosters introspection through self awareness. By choosing presence over practicality and content over convention, the construct proposed in this thesis attempts to create spaces that are imposing and unfamiliar yet somehow emotionally reminiscent. Confronted by these contradictions and juxtapositions, this building will stand as an object, in opposition to the occupant, and through that opposition inspire and promote a greater awareness of, and possibly a reflection upon, normally unconscious thought processes.
Master of Architecture

My work has a strong formal quality and a deep relation to minimalism without ever buying into it. Through tension and inserting my personal experience into the making of the work, but not always within the meaning of the work, I leave the viewer to draw their own conclusions.

This study offers a contribution to the discourses surrounding 'silence', arguing that the transformation of the meaning of silence as it shifts between contexts depends upon what it is being defined in opposition to, and that in each case, what is posited in the space marked by silence is of central importance to the discourse surrounding this context. Aware of the interdisciplinary engagements with silence, this thesis presupposes that silence is not 'nothing', and that the question of agency is central to the distinctions between silences. Drawing on a number of theoretical perspectives pertinent to each context, this thesis proceeds by engaging with silence as it is featured in discourses surrounding animals, trauma, secrecy, and listening. These theoretical perspectives are explored also through a number of cultural texts - creative nonfiction, short stories, film, poetry, and also testimony. These case studies are not only illustrative, but also offer further perspectives on each context, and the meaning generated for silence. Unlike most other engagements with silence, this thesis not only takes the definition of silence to be unstable and changeable, but also confronts the question of why 'silence' is used in these discourses, positing that it is its association with space that is being drawn upon across these contexts. This thesis argues that it is because 'silence' comes to be figured as a creator of space, what is at issue in these contexts is what is conceived of as being in this space of silence - Otherness, isolation, individuality, intersubjectivity.

A Mother and Son Khilim records some of the images and myths from 22000 BCE to the present which locate the Oedipus myth in a history that makes sense of my emotional and intellectual responses to it. This chapter includes summarises of the story and its forbears which the reader will need to hold in mind through the later chapters of the thesis. A Sampler - Hypotheses, Questions, Themes introduces the main arguments as well as a summary of my conclusions from the inquiry, and some poetry and other writing which is intended to establish an atmosphere for the work. Oedipal Kings: Abandoned Boys and the Patriarchal Pattern provides an analysis of Sophocles' King Oedipus in support of my hypothesis that he is the mythic father of patriachal social structures and, therefore, that his life story might be viewed as a template for the formation of new patriachs. The chapter also includes a study of some contemporary eminent men in which I focus on the way early experiences of abandonment typically affect their adult behaviours. Silent Women presents Queen Jocasta as archetypal disempowered mother/ wife along with four contemporary women. The true self of each of the contemporary women was mute for many years as a result of negative or absent paternal experiences during adolescence. The Social Ecology of Mythic Thebes: A Study of Fate and Destiny in Patriarchal Culture extrapolates Jung's ideas about causality and teleology in individuals to the cultural setting of Oedipus's city state. The chapter concludes by contrasting the continuing disaster in Thebes with Oedipus's achievement of individuation. Resounding the silence is the title of the cycle of songs I wrote. This section includes the lyrics of all the songs.
Master of Science (Hons) (Social Ecology)

Conversations with Silence is a collage theatre work of approximately 50 minutes in length. It is scored for mezzo-soprano, flute/piccolo/alto flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, cello, piano, percussion, and electroacoustics. The broad subject of the work is an exploration of female creativity and how gender plays a role in creating art. Although Conversations with Silence is an abstract examination of this topic, my inspiration began with four theoretical readings: Eva Rieger’s article "'I Recycle Sounds': Do Women Compose Differently?", Linda Catlin Smith’s essay “Composing Identity: What is a woman composer?”; Susan McClary’s book Feminine Endings; and Sally Macarthur’s book Feminist Aesthetics. In Conversations with Silence I emphasize many of the qualities of “feminist aesthetics” that were already present in my previous compositions in order to explore these musical ideas even further. The work consists of seventeen movements divided into five separate scenes. Each scene includes two to four movements and is centred around a different dramatic character. There is no linear narrative to connect the scenes and characters. In place of one story, Conversations with Silence offers an amalgamation of stories, characters, and ideas. Each scene has a different thematic focus, which relates to the central ideas of female creativity and feminist aesthetics.

This collection of personal essays about incest, abuse, and depression explores the lasting effects of an invisible childhood. The essays follow the protagonist from the age of five to her early twenties. Her brother, at a young age, becomes sexually abusive of her and her sisters, and her parents fail to protect their daughters. The family is divided as the older girls strive to defend their little sisters, while their parents attempt to excuse their son. When her brother is finally sent away, the protagonist is left to salvage what remains of her relationships with her parents.

In this collection of free verse lyric poems I have drawn inspiration from childhood memories, as well as from the natural world and encounters with the people around me. Each poem focuses on a small moment, presenting an emotive portrait of a memory or an experience. These small moments lead, cumulatively, to deeper insights into myself and the world around me. The collection is divided into four seasons, in part because the work is strongly influenced by the natural world, but also because the progression of the seasons mirrors something of the personal journey reflected in the poems.

Cette thèse, L'écriture du silence, est une lecture philosophique de thématiques liées à l'écriture et au rapport que l'écriture entretient avec le silence considéré non pas comme l'indicible sous-entendu des mots ou comme fondement innommable mais comme silence propre aux mots eux-mêmes, dans leur lien indissoluble avec l'immanence de la vie et de son impossibilité à être représentée. Le texte analyse ces arguments en les faisant émerger de l'oeuvre littéraire de deux écrivains femmes contemporains : Marguerite Duras et Ingeborg Bachmann, en délinéant comment l'écriture soit une afirmation de mots corporels, qui interrompt l'écoulement ordinaire du temps par une temporalité verticale qui est l'évènement des mots mêmes. L'analyse est menée avec des instruments théorétiques offerts par la philosophie, en particulier par la pensée de F. Nietzsche, M. Heidegger et L. Wittgenstein et soutenue surtout en référence aux moyens interprétatifs de G. Deleuze, J. Derrida, M. Blanchot.

The portfolio contains a series of works which explore in different ways the intersection of music and spirituality. The research which underpins this exploration firstly identified points of convergence and then sought ways of reflecting these into the "nuts and bolts" of the musical language itself - its harmony, form, temporality, relation to tradition and use of subject matter. Part I - Orientations, discusses the research generally, drawing on musical examples from the body of the portfolio to illustrate the main points as appropriate. Part II - Commentaries, provides a detailed analysis of each of the works in the ,order of their completion thus highlighting the evolution of ideas and their embodiment. Part III concludes the commentary with a frank evaluation of the project overall.

This Terrible Silence is a collection of nineteen stand-alone stories. The work largely focuses on characters on the fringe of society—alcoholics, gamblers, thieves, liars, cheaters, and loners, who feel trapped or destined to repeat their troubles. In the struggle to break free, either by self-fulfillment or outside interference, these stories showcase the characters’ hearts and wills in the face of often daunting or insurmountable desperation. The stories in this collection are influenced by the work of Raymond Carver, and the Dirty Realism of Larry Brown, Breece DJ Pancake, Jayne Anne Phillips, and others. With minimal exposition, the characters are laid bare with cutting dialogue and active, scenic description. In the title piece, the narrator intends to tell a man vs. nature story of his encounter with a cougar, but quickly dissolves into a battle with his own slipping mental health in the face of a failing relationship. In the first-person point of view, the act of telling the story holds its own exigency for the narrator’s need to understand his or her motives and desires, as is most evident in Carver’s work, such as “Cathedrals.” In theme and style, I’ve sought to put together a collection that might allow readers to find truth and empathy from common, low, sometimes immoral, but largely human characters.

My dissertation, In Violent Silence, takes its title from E.E. Cummings' sonnet "Notice the Convulsed Orange Inch of Moon". The piece musically reflects what I have found to be two unifying strings in the poem: the contrast of large and small, and the union of opposing ideas. To portray these elements, the nucleus of the piece is a pitch set that is harmonically rich and allows me to vacillate between tonal and non-tonal ideas. I also utilize the expansion and contraction of pitch register to reflect the dichotomy of large and small. The result is eighteen minutes of music with a clear and defined structure yet is in a state of constant change.

Cette these interroge le lien entre la logique et l'ethique dans deux domaines : celui de la philosophie avec wittgenstein, celui de la psychanalyse avec freud et lacan, au travers d'une notion, celle du silence. Les deux logiques s'interrogent mutuellement au travers de concepts comme ceux d'identite, de verite, de negation, d'objet non identique a lui-meme, pour eclairer les precautions epistemologiques necessaires a la theorie psychanalytique, a son ecriture. La psychanalyse est confrontee tour a tour a la dialectique platonicienne, a la rhetorique, au mythe, a la mystique, pour degager les rapports que le silence entretient dans sa theorie avec la pulsion, le refoulement, l'inhibition, le symptome. De l'observation des formes du silence dans la cure nous degageons des implications ethiques. De meme, les problematiques de l'ecriture du silence, de sa formalisation et de sa representation servent aussi a la mise en place d'une ethique du silence pour qui veut parler de la logique de l'inconscient
This thesis discusses the link between the logic and ethics in two fields - that of philosophy with wittgenstein, that of psychoanalysis with freud and lacan - through one notion, that of the silence. The two logics seek to discuss by examining concepts such as that of identity, truth, negation, objects unidentical to themselves in order to shed light on the epistemological precautions which are necessary for the psychoanalytical theory and its puttinf in writing. Psychoanalysis is confronted with, in turn, plato's dialectics, rhetorics, myths, mystics, in order to understand the relationship which the silence entertains in its theory with instinct, repression, inhibition and the symtom. From our analysis of the different forms of the silence during therapy we infer ethical implications. In the same way, problems relating to the putting in writing of the silence, its formalisation and its representation serve to establish an ethics of the silence for those who speak of the logics of the unconscious

El cultiu del silenci com una via per transcendir l’experiència ordinària del món és present en múltiples cultures al llarg de la història, en camps com ara l’espiritualitat, l’estètica o la filosofia. Aquesta tesi estudia les modalitats que adopta aquesta pràctica en el marc de la societat contemporània. Es parteix de la hipòtesi que el silenci com a experiència religiosa –entenent religió en un sentit ampli, com l’àmbit on les persones gestionen les seves experiències de transcendència i donen sentit a la vida– s’han reformulat i popularitzat com a conseqüència de les noves formes de relació que l’individu contemporani estableix tant amb el fenomen del silenci com amb allò transcendent. Aplicant una metodologia qualitativa que combina el treball etnogràfic multisituat amb l’anàlisi sociofenomenològica, i emprant les eines de l’anàlisi documental, l’observació participant i l’entrevista, la recerca s’aproxima a diferents col·lectius per als quals el silenci constitueix un element central en les seves cerques de la transcendència, des de meditadors cristians fins a persones que cultiven el silenci en els àmbits de les religions orientals, les espiritualitats holístiques, l’art, la teràpia o l’activisme social. El primer objectiu de la tesi ha consistit en descriure i analitzar diferents modalitats de pràctica, fixant-se en les narratives, els escenaris o els perfils dels actors implicats. El segon objectiu ha estat interpretar sociològicament aquestes pràctiques posant-les en relació amb l’actual context sociocultural. D’una banda, s’analitza la relació entre l’habitus dels individus i la forma com donen sentit a l’experiència del silenci i la incorporen al seu relat biogràfic. D’altra banda, s’ha traçat el procés de construcció de l’experiència moderna del silenci analitzant com els fenòmens del gir subjectiu, el pluralisme o la disseminació del sagrat han contribuït a conformar-la en les seves modalitats actuals. La tesi constata que el silenci s’ha ressignificat i popularitzat en el marc de la religiositat contemporània, en dos sentits: a) com a experiència: en tant que condició ambiental i psicològica, el silenci actua com un catalitzador de vivències subjectives de transcendència que adquireix protagonisme en diverses modalitats actuals de cultiu de la interioritat; i b) com a símbol transreligiós d’una realitat o experiència transcendent, el silenci ha esdevingut una idea força que identifica i distingeix unes determinades formes de religiositat subjectivitzades, que prioritzen la vivència íntima del sagrat i depassen els marcs de la religió institucionalitzada. Aquest silenci, com a vivència i com a metàfora, es construeix com alternativa tant a la crisi dels llenguatges i les pràctiques de la religió tradicional com, també, als valors i pautes de vida predominants en el capitalisme tardà. A partir dels casos analitzats, la tesi subratlla la dimensió intersubjectiva de les pràctiques de silenci. Aquestes són socials en tant que s’encarnen en significats, rols i pautes construïts i transmesos col·lectivament, però també en la mesura en què sovint són, en termes d’Alfred Schütz, experiències compartides en el vívid present en sintonia amb l’alteritat. La tesi també qüestiona les visions negatives o reduccionistes que atribueixen a les pràctiques de silenci una tendència a l’aïllament, al narcisisme o a l’apatia social i política. La pràctica moderna del silenci no és, necessàriament, una versió actualitzada de la tradicional fuga mundi ni tampoc una expressió de l’atomització i la desmobilització promogudes per l’ethos neoliberal sinó, ben al contrari, una reacció enfront d’aquestes, que promou l’associacionisme, el compromís cívic i l’acció social transformadora. En aquest sentit, a partir del concepte de ressonància de Harmut Rosa, la tesi finalitza reflexionant sobre el paper de l’experiència silenciosa com una resposta potencialment emancipadora enfront de les condicions d’alienació característiques de la tardomodernitat.
El cultivo del silencio como vía para transcender la experiencia ordinaria del mundo está presente en múltiples culturas a lo largo de la historia, en campos como la espiritualidad, la estética o la filosofía. Esta tesis estudia las modalidades que adopta esta práctica en la sociedad contemporánea. Partiendo de la hipótesis de que el silencio como experiencia religiosa –entendiendo religión en un sentido amplio, como el ámbito donde las personas gestionan sus experiencias de transcendencia y dan sentido a la vida– se ha reformulado y popularizado como consecuencia de las nuevas formas de relación que el individuo establece con el silencio y con lo transcendente. Aplicando una metodología cualitativa que combina el trabajo etnográfico multisituado con el análisis sociofenomenológico, y empleando las herramientas del análisis documental, la observación participante y la entrevista, la investigación se aproxima a diferentes colectivos para los cuales el silencio constituye un elemento central en sus búsquedas de sentido, desde meditadores cristianos hasta personas que cultivan el silencio en los ámbitos de las religiones orientales, las espiritualidades holísticas, el arte, la terapia o el activismo. El primer objetivo de la tesis ha consistido en analizar diferentes modalidades de práctica, fijándose en las narrativas, los escenarios o los perfiles de los actores implicados. El segundo objetivo ha sido interpretar sociológicamente estas prácticas poniéndolas en relación con su contexto sociocultural. Por un lado, se analiza la relación entre el habitus de los individuos y la forma cómo dan sentido a la experiencia del silencio y la incorporan en su relato biográfico. Por otro lado, se ha trazado el proceso de construcción de la experiencia moderna del silencio analizando cómo los fenómenos del giro subjetivo, el pluralismo o la diseminación de lo sagrado han contribuido a conformarla en sus modalidades actuales. La tesis constata que el silencio se ha resignificado y popularizado en el marco de la religiosidad contemporánea, en dos sentidos: a) como experiencia: en tanto que condición ambiental y psicológica, el silencio actúa como catalizador de vivencias de transcendencia que adquiere protagonismo en diversas modalidades actuales de cultivo de la interioridad; y b) como símbolo transreligioso de una realidad o experiencia transcendente, el silencio ha devenido una idea fuerza que identifica y distingue unas formas de religiosidad subjetivizadas, que priorizan la experiencia íntima de lo sagrado y traspasan los marcos de la religión institucionalizada. Este silencio, como vivencia y como símbolo, se construye como alternativa tanto a la crisis de los lenguajes y prácticas de la religión tradicional como a los modos de vida predominantes en el capitalismo tardío. A partir de los casos analizados, la tesis subraya la dimensión intersubjetiva de las prácticas de silencio. Estas son sociales en tanto que se encarnan en significados, roles y pautas construidos y transmitidos colectivamente, pero también en la medida en que a menudo son, en términos de Alfred Schütz, experiencias compartidas en el vívido presente en sintonía con la alteridad. La tesis cuestiona también las visiones negativas o reduccionistas que atribuyen a las prácticas de silencio una tendencia al aislamiento, al narcisismo o a la apatía social. La práctica moderna del silencio no es, necesariamente, una versión actualizada de la tradicional fuga mundi ni una expresión de la atomización y desmovilización promovidas por el ethos neoliberal, sino que puede ser una reacción frente a estas que promueve el asociacionismo, el compromiso cívico y la acción social transformadora. A partir del concepto de resonancia de Hartmut Rosa, la tesis concluye reflexionando sobre el papel de la experiencia silenciosa como una respuesta potencialmente emancipadora ante las condiciones de alienación de la tardomodernidad.
The cultivation of silence in order to transcend ordinary world experience is present in multiple cultures throughout history, in fields such as spirituality, aesthetics, or philosophy. This thesis studies the modalities adopted by this practice within the framework of contemporary society. We start from the hypothesis that silence as a religious experience –understanding religion in a broad sense, as the realm where people manage their experiences of transcendence and give meaning to life– have been reformulated and popularized as a result of the new forms of relationship that the contemporary individual establishes with both the phenomenon of silence and the transcendent. Applying a qualitative methodology that combines a multisituated ethnographic work with a sociophenomenological analysis, and using the tools of documentary analysis, participant observation and interview, the research approaches different groups for which silence constitutes a central element in his pursuits of transcendence, from Christian meditators to people who cultivate silence within the frame of Eastern religions, holistic spiritualities, art, therapy, or social activism. The first objective of the thesis was to describe and analyze different modalities of practice, focusing on the narratives, scenarios or profiles of the actors involved. The second goal has been to interpret these practices sociologically by relating them to the current sociocultural context. On the one hand, it analyzes the relationship between the habits of individuals and the way in which they give meaning to the experience of silence and incorporate it into their biographical account. On the other hand, the process of constructing the modern experience of silence has been traced by analyzing how the phenomena of the subjective turn, pluralism or the dissemination of the sacred have contributed to shaping it in its current modalities. The thesis states that silence has been re-signified and popularized within the framework of contemporary religiosity, in two ways: a) as an experience: as an environmental and psychological condition, silence acts as a catalyst for subjective experiences of transcendence that acquires prominence in several current modalities of cultivation of the interiority; and b) as a transreligious symbol of a transcendent reality or experience, silence has become a force idea that identifies and distinguishes some subjectivized forms of religiosity, which prioritize the intimate experience of the sacred and go beyond the framework of institutionalized religions. This silence, as an experience and as a metaphor, is constructed as an alternative both to the crisis of the languages and practices of traditional religion and, also, to the values and patterns of life predominant in late capitalism. Based on the cases analyzed, the thesis emphasizes the intersubjective dimension of silence practices. These are social insofar as they are embodied in meanings, roles and patterns constructed and transmitted collectively, but also insofar as they are often, in terms of Alfred Schütz, shared experiences in the present vivid in a tuning-in relationship with otherness. The thesis also questions negative or reductionist views that attribute to silence practices a tendency to isolation, narcissism, or social and political apathy. The modern practice of silence is not necessarily an updated version of the traditional fuga mundi nor an expression of the atomization and demobilization promoted by the neoliberal ethos but, on the contrary, a reaction against them, which promotes associationism, civic engagement and transformative social action. In this sense, based on Harmut Rosa's concept of resonance, the thesis ends by reflecting on the role of silent experience as a potentially emancipatory response to the conditions of alienation characteristic of late modernity.
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Sociologia

Silence has traditionally been analysed in linguistic terms as those moments of non-speech/non-sound interspersed between words and sounds. I will attempt to take this academic reasoning further to deconstruct established notions of silence and incorporate contemporary methods of investigation to arrive at a more viable and dynamic observation of the event. Silence goes beyond this simple dualistic and binary contrast and I believe may reveal itself as negotiator of language, wherein the impossibility of an absolute truth is translated into the imminent. This thesis will be an attempt at a discourse that redefines silence's fleeting site as an impending source for the political as such.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2002.
Includes bibliographical references.
Pornography deserves special protections, it is often said, because it qualifies as speech; therefore, no matter what we think of it, we must afford it the protections that we extend to most speech, but don't extend to other actions. In response, it has been argued that the case is not so simple: one of the harms of pornography, it is claimed, is that it silences women's speech, thereby preventing women from deriving from speech the very benefits that warrant the special protections in the first place. This dissertation offers a way of making sense of the view that pornography silences women. In Chapter 1, I develop an account of silencing which, unlike other accounts of the same phenomenon, helps make clear why a speaker who is silenced is thereby deprived of the benefits that led us to place a special value on speech. In Chapter 2, I respond to an objection that purports to show that, even if women are silenced, pornography cannot be responsible: in fact, according to this objection, the responsibility for any instance of silencing cannot lie with any party other than the speaker and the audience involved. I show that this objection relies on an overly simplistic picture of what audiences can reasonably be required to do in a speech situation; I also offer an alternate picture, which leaves open the possibility that a speaker may be silenced in a context in which both she and her audience behave competently.
(cont.) In Chapter 3, I consider a view about the way in which pornography contributes to the silencing - and more generally, to the subordination - of women. I argue that this view fails because it is too individualistic: it ignores how the social and political context in which the pornography is consumed helps determine whether it subordinates. I then make some suggestions about what a more satisfactory view would be. Though pornography is the principal case study throughout this dissertation, much of what I say generalizes to other forms of representation that set limits on what speakers are able to convey. The main aim of my discussion is to contribute to the philosophical and feminist understanding of communication, by showing how an individual's social role can constrain her possibilities as a speaker.
by Ishani Maitra.
Ph.D.

This thesis is a meditation upon silence, upon its ontological relationship to architecture. As such, it relies more upon insight and contemplation than analysis. It seeks to explore this realm through the making of a trappist monastery, to ask fundamental questions about the nature of human dwelling in the most complete sense, to stir the memory and perhaps to move the heart toward that silence which is beyond thought, which precedes and bounds and yet pervades all human experience.
Master of Architecture

Ce mémoire se veut principalement une réflexion sur ma pratique en arts visuels. Je tente de présenter les différents concepts qui alimentent mes recherches, ainsi que la manière dont je travaille pour concevoir mes œuvres. J'évoque les notions de fragment et de récit dans l'image peinte et vidéographique. Il est question ici d'un compte rendu subjectif de ma démarche artistique ainsi que du processus de création auquel je participe. Je pose donc un regard analytique sur mon travail ainsi que sur mes inspirations, puisées à même mon expérience personnelle et intime par rapport au quotidien et au banal.

This study examines the relationship between company management guidance, and ex-ante crash risk over the duration of 2008(Jan 2006-Dec 2009) financial crisis using the implied volatility skew, which is based upon ex-ante volatility implied by the pricing model developed by Black-Scholes (1973). The study finds that over the duration of this crisis period, management guidance decreases with a rise in ex-ante crash risk. Further, the study provides evidence on the relationship of management guidance and earnings volatility, and how that is affected by a firm's industry product concentration based on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) score.

This thesis supports the Master of Fine Arts exhibition, To End In Silence, at the Slocumb Galleries, East Tennessee State University, March 15-19, 2010. The exhibit consists of fourteen pieces, which are either presented on pedestals or mounted on the wall. To comment on the title of my thesis, it is a description of the state of calm that I strive to embrace during the creation of my work and the unobtrusive yet engaging tone that I hope for each finished composition to project. This paper explores the aesthetic and conceptual transitions in my work, inspired by a period of personal realization and acceptance. Influences discussed include a number of connections to historical practices including Buddhism, Numerology, and Traditional Japanese Aesthetics, as well as the works of contemporary artists, Agnes Martin, Lee Bontecou, and Manfred Muller. Also included is a complete catalogue of works from To End In Silence.

Silence; have you ever wondered if silence speaks? If it does, then how it speaks? My research is about silence, but a very particular sort. In 2006, I started working as a clinical psychologist in Sri Lanka, working with conflict affected communities. They told me stories of war related violence, infuriating injustices and immense human resiliance.

The objective of this study is to analyze and understand the sexual orientation given by mothers to sons and daughters with visual deficiencies. From a phenomenological perspective the narratives of twenty mothers of visual defficients are analyzed. The convergences of these conversations make clear that disinformation about sexuality in general impedes dialogues between mothers and offspring. Evidence was obtained showing that sexual repression stems from stigmas and preconcepts about sexual education of persons with visual defficiencies.
El objetivo de este estudio fue conocer y comprender la orientación sexual proveniente de madres de hijos portadores de deficiencia visual. Bajo la perspectiva fenomenológica, se analizan veinte discursos de madres de deficientes visuales. El recorrido por todos los discursos permite conocer que la desinformación sobre la sexualidad en general, impide el diálogo entre madre e hijo(a). Tales recorridos evidencian igualmente, que la represión sexual fundamenta los estigmas y los preconceptos en la educación sexual de los deficientes visuales.

The purpose of this paper is to present, illustrate and systematize documentation on projected and existing international examples and housing conditions for an aging population and to question the architect's role in terms of person-environment relations.As architects we often base our design on assumptions. A thorough training in the techniques of systematic observation can provide information, and data for improvements and necessities.The paper consists of two main parts. The first part focuses on research of theoretical and practical design aspects through a retrospective look at the history and the physiology of aging.Major goals are:• To increase the knowledge of person-environment interactions through a better understanding of behavioral systems of older people (environment as a stimulant).• To examine environmental attributes constituting an appropriate environment for an independent life (therapeutic aspects of design).• To identify necessities and ways of filling gaps in the relationship between theoretical design aspects and their practical application.•To refelect on historical aspects of aging by showing the ambivalence and changeability in man's systems of values.The second part of the paper considers several international innovative housing and living arrangements in an illustrative way.
Department of Architecture

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computation for Design and Optimization Program, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 101-104).
Roll-to-Roll (R2R) manufacturing has seen great interest in the recent decade due to the proliferation of personalized and wearable devices for monitoring a variety of biometrics. Given the sensitive nature of the potential applications of these sensors, the throughput of manufacturing due to increased demand, and the scale of the electrical components being manufactured, R2R flexible electronics manufacturing technologies require new sensing and measurement capabilities for defect detection and process control. The work presented herein investigates the use of ultrasound, specifically Lamb and longitudinal waves, as a sensing modality and measurement technique for thin film R2R manufacturing substrates. Contact (transducer-based) and non-contact (photoacoustic) generation methods along with deterministic and probabilistic tomographic reconstruction algorithms were implemented evaluate their suitability for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and in-line control of surface additions of 76[mu]m aluminum and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films. The ultrasonic waves were used to ascertain properties of these substrates such as the thickness of substrate, applied load, presence of defects (holes/cracks), size of defects, presence of surface features (fluid drops, multi-layer structures), and nature of surface features (differing chemistries). In addition, surface features alter the behavior of sound waves in the presence of such features. These surface features may then be imaged to create tomographic maps. The results presented show that, currently, a quasi-contact acoustic generation scheme can be used to successfully image defects and surface features on the order of -1mm. Furthermore, the algorithm is able to distinguish qualitatively between surface features of differing physiochemical properties. The authors hope that the information collected from this thesis will be part of a rich data set that can contribute to advanced machine-learning frameworks for predictive maintenance, failure, and process control analysis for the R2R process.
by Rishon Robert Benjamin.
S.M.

Dans ses premieres oeuvres qui precedent le bateau ivre, rimbaud evolue vers un nouveau code litteraire. Une telle evolution se revele plus clairement dans la correspondance redigee pendant cette periode de l'activite poetique (mai 1870-aout 1871). L'elan vers un nouveau code litteraire entraine chez rimbaud la negation meme de la litterature, notamment a partir des vers libres composes en 1872. Dans une saison en enfer et les illuminations la poesie tend infiniment vers son univers merveilleux contenant dans le vaste champ toutes les realites venant au-dela des horizons imaginaires de l'ecriture. Le silence rimbaldien est bien inscrit dans la correspondance africaine et nous apparait comme la revelation de la volonte de vivre une poesie en actes. La correspondance africaine est aussi le prolongement direct d'une saison en enfer. Dans ce sens que le "livre" de 1873 contient l'esprit "paien" ou "negre" qui se developpera en detail et plus reellement dans la vie et dans les lettres de rimbaud l'africain. La continuite se prolonge au-dela de sa vie. Par le refus de la poesie, rimbaud ouvre une nouvelle voie vers la modernite de la poesie. Quand le refus de la poesie redevient une poesie. Nouvelle poesie a transcrire la verite de la vie toujours voilee sous la toile des mots. Rimbaud est bien un apotre des poetes de notre siecle
In his early works that precede le bateau ivre (the drunk boat), rimbaud performs evolutions into a new code of the literature. These evolutions become more clear in his correspondence written during the first period of the poetical activity (may 1870-august 1871). Such an impulse toward the new literary code entails in rimbaud the negation itself of the literature, more particularly from the unrimed poetry compound on 1872. In une saison en enfer (a season in the hell) and the illuminations the poetry tends infinitely to his marvellous universe that contains in the vast field all the realities coming beyond the imaginary horizons of the writing. The silence of rimbaud is well inscribed on the african correspondence as a new writing. This correspondence is also the diret prolongation of a season in the hell containing the "pagan" or "negro" spirit that will develop in detail and more really during the life and in the letters of the african rimbaud. The continuity is prolonged beyond his life. By the refusal of the literature, rimbaud opens a new way toward the modernness of the poetry. When this refusal becomes a poetry, rimbaud is well a apostle for the poets of this century