Perspectives on Silence

by Muriel Saville-Troike, Deborah Tannen

Overview

This book focuses attention on a relatively neglected component of communication-silence-in order to present current research from a number of disciplines and also to stimulate further research on the subject. Silence is often viewed as an out-of-awareness phenomenon against which talk is perceived. By reversing polarities and treating silence as a figure to be examined against talk, we are given a heightened awareness of the universal aspects of human behavior while emphasizing its complex nature as a cultural phenomenon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780893913106
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/01/1985
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.57(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction
OVERVIEW: THE NATURE AND STUDY OF SILENCE
The Pace of Silence in an Integrated Theory of Communication
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF PAUSING
The Machine Stops: Silence in the Metaphor of Malfunction
Psychological Correlates of Silence and Sound in Conversational Interaction
The Two Faces of Silence: The Effect of Witness Hesitancy on Lawyers' Impressions
Some Reasons for Hesitating
SOME MEANINGS AND USES OF SILENCE
Silence: Anything But
Joyful Noise and Reverent Silence: The Significance of Noise in Pentecostal Worship
Silence and Sulking: Emotional Displays in the Classroom
SILENCE IN CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
Silence and Noise as Emotion Management Styles: An Italian Case
Eloquent Silence Among the Igbo of Nigeria
The Silent Finn
SILENCE AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
Interaction Structured Through Talk and Interaction Structured Through silence'
Some Uses of Gesture
APPENDIX
A Sampling of Sources on Silence
Author Index
Subject Index