Silence: a modality of its own

ABSTRACT

Multimodality theories are based on the assumption that the process of meaning making does not operate in isolation, but usually integrates various modalities. While visual, aural, and spatial modalities are dealt with extensively, the theoretical framework of multimodality tends to overlook silence as a modality of its own. Yet, seminal studies established that silence is not a mere absence of sound or text. Insofar as the communicative dimension is concerned, scholars have proven that silence carries illocutionary force and perlocutionary effect, thus considering silence as a means of communication within human interaction. As opposed to studies that do not relate to silence from the perspective of multimodality, and in contrast to multimodality theories that disregard the centrality of silence in the multimodal product, we claim that silence should be integrated in the multimodal product along with other “established” modalities such as words, sound, and image. In other words, we argue in favor of a model where silence is considered a modality of its own, not a complement to sound or text. We focus on the medium of comics, although a more comprehensive analysis of the thesis of silence as a modality should also take into account other multimodal media.

KEYWORDS:

• Modality
• silence typology
• comics
• multimodal meaning
• Israeli comics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 I.e. silent addressees may know the answer but choose not to cooperate, or they may not know the answer and refuse to admit ignorance.

2 Groensteen (2007, 2011) also studies “mute” comics, devoid of verbal enunciations, i.e. without dialogue or narration captions. Originating in Germany, this particular narrative form became widespread in other parts of Europe at the end of the nineteenth century. Later on, wordless comics gained popularity in different genres: daily comic strips, comics books, splash pages, and more. According to Groensteen (2011, 157), the image has the power to control the narrative without any linguistic contribution.

3 See, for instance, Bezemer and Jewitt’s (2018) discussion of “intensity.”

4 The shape of the balloon itself can highlight various auditory effects: A jagged balloon implies shouting or screaming. Drawing balloon contours with squiggly lines indicates that the speaker is disoriented. Icicles suggest an especially cold tone of voice. Rigid lines and a speaking protrusion stylized like a lightning bolt evoke a mechanized or electronically filtered voice (Postema, 2019).

5 See Cohn (2013) for the various interfaces between text and image through the use of speech balloons and thought bubbles.

6 Not every thought is equated with silence, although from the perspective of its diegetic value it may be considered as such. In certain scenes, where the thought conceals true intentions or communicates to the reader something that the addressee should also hear, it may be seen as silence.

7 The authors wish to thank the creators for their kindness in granting us the rights for publication of the included panels.

8 In Hebrew, “quiet” and “silent” have the same signifier.

9 For other silent moments of realization of tragic events, see Weissbrod and Kohn (2011).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Silvia Adler

Silvia Adler is Full Professor of linguistics in the Department of French Culture at Bar-Ilan University. Her research interests lie in the area of syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Her current research interest also includes strategies of meaning-making in comics and other multimodal texts.

Ayelet Kohn

Ayelet Kohn is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication at David Yellin Academic College in Jerusalem. Her research focuses on multimodality in media texts and on communities in the internet. Her latest book, coauthored with Rachel Weissbrod, Translating the Visual: A Multimodal Perspective, was published with Routledge, in 2019.