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História do Silêncio
Historiador das emoções, Alain Corbin refaz, nesta obra, não uma história do silêncio no sentido cronológico e factual do termo, mas, antes, uma história interior, uma espécie de escuta íntima do silêncio, uma trajetória que conduz o leitor contemporâneo a reencontrar-se com aquela “presença no ar” que é para ele o silêncio; presença palpável em certos lugares, em alguns livros, como também na pintura e nas interações sociais; presença central e indispensável para o percurso espiritual, para a oração, o recolhimento, quando o silêncio se torna “o coração que escuta a interioridade absoluta, [...] a superação da palavra”. História do silêncio é um livro erudito que, certamente, desconcertará qualquer leitor que procurar encontrar nele uma obra estritamente historiográfica, mas que se vale de uma amplidão de citações e referências culturais e da fineza de sua abordagem e de suas análises para retratar como aqueles que nos precederam expressaram sua experiência com o silêncio. Uma obra sensível, e nem por isso menos erudita, que cumpre importante papel na compreensão e análise dessa temática.
218 pages, Paperback
First published April 16, 2016
About the author
Alain Corbin
122 books78 followersAlain Corbin is a French historian, specialist of the 19th century in France.
Trained in the Annales School, Corbin's work has moved away from the large-scale collective structures studied by Fernand Braudel towards a history of sensibilities which is closer to Lucien Febvre's history of mentalités. His books have explored the histories of such subjects as male desire and prostitution, sensory experience of smell and sound, and the 1870 burning of a young nobleman in a Dordogne village.
Trained in the Annales School, Corbin's work has moved away from the large-scale collective structures studied by Fernand Braudel towards a history of sensibilities which is closer to Lucien Febvre's history of mentalités. His books have explored the histories of such subjects as male desire and prostitution, sensory experience of smell and sound, and the 1870 burning of a young nobleman in a Dordogne village.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
May 4, 2019
This is rather a kind of phenomenology of silence, a description of the different forms of silence and, in particular, how it is experienced and searched for by people. And if this booklet teaches something, then it is that those experiences are extremely versatile, highly diversified (religious-romantic) and also filled in in very different ways (sometimes with concrete techniques, such as the meditation exercises of the Jesuits, that seemed like an early form of mindfulness). But Corbin limits himself mainly to literary quotes, and then almost exclusively from French literature (the classic French myopia, you know). This booklet is a succession of quotes, some of which are nice, but you wonder what this says about the evolution of how we experience and seek silence. Inevitably we come to the opposite definition: “silence as absence of noise”, and the most interesting passage of this booklet - to me - was his brief outline of how noise evolved in western cities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Corbin says in his introduction that this is no more than a pioneering study, a tentative start. And it is!
June 14, 2018
This mis-leadingly titled and slight book is not a 'history' at all: it comprises chapters loosely containing a multitude of uncontextualised and largely unexamined extracts and quotations that leap blithely from, for example, Maeterlinck to Rodenbach to Max Picard to Castiglione to Milton, Pascal and Benjamin Constant.. all in three and a half pages. If you don't know who these writers are, this book won't tell you. Neither will it tell you, generally, when they were writing, or in what genre (fiction, poetry, philosophy, etiquette handbook in the case of Castiglione) all of which would help to contextualise the fragments. There are times when it feels like Corbin has merely done a text search for 'silence' and its synonyms such as when he offers up snippets from Proust.
It's ironic that the legitimately interesting premise of the book is that by being bombarded by 'hyper-mediatization and permanent connectivity and... the incessant flow of words' we are losing contact with our inner selves and the stillness of interiority: well, Corbin's own book feels precisely like a bombard of unattached and unaffiliated quotations. There's undoubtedly some interesting material here but this book does little other than to organise it, very loosely, and offer it up to the reader in raw, unmediated fashion. What a wasted opportunity.
It's ironic that the legitimately interesting premise of the book is that by being bombarded by 'hyper-mediatization and permanent connectivity and... the incessant flow of words' we are losing contact with our inner selves and the stillness of interiority: well, Corbin's own book feels precisely like a bombard of unattached and unaffiliated quotations. There's undoubtedly some interesting material here but this book does little other than to organise it, very loosely, and offer it up to the reader in raw, unmediated fashion. What a wasted opportunity.
August 23, 2024
мені подобаються подібні книги.
це своєрідна медитація і нагадування про те, що іноді найпростіші речі, як от тиша — це певна розкіш.
тиша нас може лякати, може бути трагедією, може слугувати самопізнанням, може бути натхненням, а може бути джерелом заспокоєння, може бути перформенсом і самим мистецтвом.
це своєрідна медитація і нагадування про те, що іноді найпростіші речі, як от тиша — це певна розкіш.
тиша нас може лякати, може бути трагедією, може слугувати самопізнанням, може бути натхненням, а може бути джерелом заспокоєння, може бути перформенсом і самим мистецтвом.
August 9, 2016
A little deception. many references but not enough rigorous. Sometime, I asked to me what he wanted to show. A good observation is that since the fifties, silence despaired, lost its value. At the same time, we can observe a same evolution with the rapport to the death. For me it was the good problematic.
June 1, 2018
I thought A History Of Silence was OK, but I expected more. The book is a good idea and has a few nice illustrations, but it is essentially a large collection of quotations with only a little in the way of commentary. Especially from a history professor, a greater degree of analysis and tracing of ideas would have made this a much richer book.
In his introduction…sorry, his Prelude, Corbin asserts that, "History has too often claimed to explain. When it tackles the world of emotions, it must also and primarily make people feel." Well, perhaps. And even if true, I'm afraid Corbin didn't really do that for me. There is a huge range of loosely grouped quotations about various aspects of silence, but presented in a way which, to me at least, was not so much about "making people feel" as showing how erudite the author is. For example, on p.27 he paraphrases and quotes Saint-Exupery (a superlative writer who has often made me feel a great deal) on the silence of the desert: "When an aircraft flew over, the engine made a 'dense, all-engulfing sound behind which the landscape [streamed] by in silence, like a film '. In the experience of this airman, the deepest silence was that of the telephone line signalling the loss of an aeroplane and its pilot." Now, both elements of that are touching and thought-provoking, but the complete non-sequitur and lack of context of the telephone line robs it of almost all of Saint-Exupery's original power, I think.
When Corbin does analyse, it's by no means always credible, either. On p.67, for example, talking of the present day: "A raised voice in a train is now seen as an irritant because travellers prefer peace and quiet. This was not so right up to the middle of the twentieth century, when conversation in compartments seemed normal, even a sign of good manners. Similarly, silence during a flight is welcome and breaking it can be seen as discourteous. The same is true of the cinema." Surely, few people object to normal conversations between neighbouring passengers; what is objectionable is the inconsiderate yelling into phones of people with no awareness of their immediate surroundings, but again Corbin fails to analyse or take context into account. And bracketing the cinema with this is fatuous: we go to the cinema specifically to watch a film so it *is* discourteous to prevent others concentrating on or hearing that film. It is wholly different from sitting on a train, where there is no common point of attention.
I could go on, but this review is already too long. In summary, this is quite an interesting collection of quotations about silence, but little more. As such, it's OK, but I can only give it a very qualified recommendation.
In his introduction…sorry, his Prelude, Corbin asserts that, "History has too often claimed to explain. When it tackles the world of emotions, it must also and primarily make people feel." Well, perhaps. And even if true, I'm afraid Corbin didn't really do that for me. There is a huge range of loosely grouped quotations about various aspects of silence, but presented in a way which, to me at least, was not so much about "making people feel" as showing how erudite the author is. For example, on p.27 he paraphrases and quotes Saint-Exupery (a superlative writer who has often made me feel a great deal) on the silence of the desert: "When an aircraft flew over, the engine made a 'dense, all-engulfing sound behind which the landscape [streamed] by in silence, like a film '. In the experience of this airman, the deepest silence was that of the telephone line signalling the loss of an aeroplane and its pilot." Now, both elements of that are touching and thought-provoking, but the complete non-sequitur and lack of context of the telephone line robs it of almost all of Saint-Exupery's original power, I think.
When Corbin does analyse, it's by no means always credible, either. On p.67, for example, talking of the present day: "A raised voice in a train is now seen as an irritant because travellers prefer peace and quiet. This was not so right up to the middle of the twentieth century, when conversation in compartments seemed normal, even a sign of good manners. Similarly, silence during a flight is welcome and breaking it can be seen as discourteous. The same is true of the cinema." Surely, few people object to normal conversations between neighbouring passengers; what is objectionable is the inconsiderate yelling into phones of people with no awareness of their immediate surroundings, but again Corbin fails to analyse or take context into account. And bracketing the cinema with this is fatuous: we go to the cinema specifically to watch a film so it *is* discourteous to prevent others concentrating on or hearing that film. It is wholly different from sitting on a train, where there is no common point of attention.
I could go on, but this review is already too long. In summary, this is quite an interesting collection of quotations about silence, but little more. As such, it's OK, but I can only give it a very qualified recommendation.
December 2, 2019
Bastante decepcionante. Salvo algún capítulo suelto, se trata de un mero compendio de citas y ejemplos, sin hilar, y estrictamente limitado a la cultura francesa, lo que en sí no está mal, pero creo que especificarlo habría sido un detalle por parte de la editorial.
Entiendo que, contando con menos de ciento cincuenta páginas, no iba a ser un tratado exhaustivo, pero esperaba otra perspectiva más analítica.
Entiendo que, contando con menos de ciento cincuenta páginas, no iba a ser un tratado exhaustivo, pero esperaba otra perspectiva más analítica.
July 8, 2019
Breve crónica en forma de ensayo acerca del papel que el silencio ha tenido a lo largo de la Historia en sus más variadas expresiones artísticas (literatura, arte, música...); en menos de las 150 páginas que componen Historia del silencio. Del Renacimiento a nuestros días se condensan varias reflexiones acerca de todo lo que rodea al silencio, tanto física como psicológicamente, pasando por los momentos líricos y evocativos.
Alain Corbin acierta al dotar al escrito de cierto aire solemne sin renunciar a la sencillez, aunque aporta pocas ideas propias ya que se focaliza más en analizar lo que otros pensadores, autores o pintores pensaban acerca del silencio.
Un libro que sin duda entusiasmará a los amantes de la tranquilidad y la soledad.
Alain Corbin acierta al dotar al escrito de cierto aire solemne sin renunciar a la sencillez, aunque aporta pocas ideas propias ya que se focaliza más en analizar lo que otros pensadores, autores o pintores pensaban acerca del silencio.
Un libro que sin duda entusiasmará a los amantes de la tranquilidad y la soledad.
March 16, 2024
Interesante indagación filosófica entorno a la idea del silencio. Corbin es un señor muy conservador que en un principio parece muy embelesado con la idea del silencio como medio para rezar y dialogar con Dios, sin embargo el abanico pronto se abre y busca en numerosas citas de novelistas y pensadores los diferentes aspectos del silencio, tanto la paz y meditación como el reflejo de la muerte y la destrucción.
Escritores como Benjamin Constant, Zola, Proust, Henry David Thoreau, Julien Gracq, Bernanos, Flaubert, Pascal Quignard y muy marcadamente Meterlinck le sirven para representar no tanto la falta de ruido si no el espacio en el que la mente puede desplegarse y profundizar. A banda de eso, en los diferentes captíulos también relaciona el silencio en la naturaleza, el espacio privado y el amor, dónde puede ser señal de harmonía amorosa u odio callado y desdén intrínseco.
La escritura de Corbin me parece en general amena y juiciosa, lejos de caer en nostalgia barata del pasado o perderse en beaterías, su propuesta termina siendo jugosa y rica en matices, tanto es así que incluso se convierte en un defecto, pues en algunos capítulos las citas son tan copiosas y constantes que genera cierta sensación de redundancia y dar vueltas en círculo. Es un poco lo que me pasó cuando intenté leer los ensayos de Montaigne (precisamente en la versión de Acantilado), sólo que en esta ocasión la carga no se ha hecho demasiado pesada porque no es lo mismo leer ciento y pico páginas que dos mil.
Supongo que siempre podrá aparecer alguien objetando que las referencias literarias y culturales son muy etnocentristas y la representación de las mujeres es efectivamente nula, es verdad que este libro es un poco una fiesta de salchichas, pero en verdad no lo considero una pega tan remarcable, al fin y al cabo se ajusta al campo de intereses real (no impostado) de su autor y también a su esfera cultural. En todo caso a esas críticas podremos hacerle oídos sordos. El resto es silencio.
April 28, 2022
Uau! Pelo título e subtítulo deste livro, o leitor vai achar que encontrará um estudo histórico sobre a propriedade humana do silêncio. Vendo o sumário do livro, pensará que vários aspectos do silêncio serão abordados histpricamente e com profundidade. Ledo engano, incauto leitor como eu. O livro não tem um viés histórico, mas sim literário, com destaque enorme para a produção francesa de literatura. Nada mais é do que uma coleção de citações de outros livros, de uma forma desinteressante mal-costurada, que pouco tem a ver com a investigação do silêncio e quiçá de sua história. Uma decepção bastante grande essa leitura.
August 13, 2022
damıtılmış, süzgeçten geçirilmiş, minik güzel bir kitap olmuş...
June 16, 2020
<> ▪️Días de muchas preguntas e incertidumbres. Buscaba por la librería un libro donde volcar todos mis pensamientos y se me ocurrió, al verlo, que un libro sobre el silencio podría darme tranquilidad. Alain Corbin ha escrito un pequeño ensayo sobre la historia del silencio, contemplándolo en distintos contextos y analizándolo a través de diversos autores y filósofos. Es cierto que hay capítulos donde esperaba más debate o reflexión y sin embargo hay muchas citas entremezcladas que no terminan de concluir en algo, pero también hay otros capítulos que me han hecho pensar mucho y cuestionarme ciertas opiniones y eso siempre es un punto a favor en un libro. El silencio, entendido siempre como una manifestación de sabiduría o como un arma de doble filo, es algo que ha llegado a obsesionarme. A menudo se parte de la pregunta siguiente: ¿Cuándo callar? Y sin embargo, creo que deberíamos hacernos la pregunta a la inversa: ¿Cuándo debería hablar? Soy una persona que puede estar mucho tiempo en silencio pero cuando me interesa una cuestión hablo y hablo mucho sobre ella. A menudo, al expresarme en voz alta, empiezo a ser consciente de ciertos pensamientos que no sabía que tenía. Sin embargo, no es hasta el momento en que estoy callada, conmigo misma, cuando puedo ver con perspectiva y análisis lo que he manifestado de forma natural en la charla. Creo que Alain Corbin pretende con este libro ensalzar esos momentos tan necesarios para todos donde el silencio es clave para nuestra felicidad, para nuestra comprensión y para nuestro auto-dominio. Recuerdo comentar una vez con un amigo lo sencillo que me resultaba estar sola y lo bien que me sentía conmigo misma y como era cuando, al relacionarme con otras personas, a menudo dejaba de gustarme mi forma de ser o me sentía distinta. "En mi interior -le dije- soy de otra forma y me siento más feliz." Creo que esto no tiene que ver solo con las interacciones sociales y con la persona que tienes delante, sino también con el silencio, que nos permite acceder a lugares imposibles para nosotros en la oralidad. Como una especie de puerta mágica, el silencio nos guía hacia nuestra verdadera alma y hacia nuestros verdaderos sentimientos. No se trata de callar con sumisión, sino de aprovechar los silencios para comprender mejor el mundo y comunicar entonces desde donde de verdad queremos comunicar. A menudo -y esto ocurre mucho en las relaciones amorosas- solo hará falta comprenderse en los silencios para hacerlo en todo lo demás. 🌹
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September 17, 2023Título: Historia del silencio
Autora: Alain Corbin
Editorial: Acantilado
Por el mismo motivo que leí el último libro que he reseñado (Breve tratado de la soledad), he leído esta Historia del silencio: por escribir poesía. Sabía que esos –la soledad, el silencio, la sombra– iban a ser temas fundamentales en el poemario que estaba escribiendo (y que ya he terminado, todo sea dicho), así que busqué ensayos que tuvieran que ver con esos términos y, de casualidad, encontré este de Alain Corbinque es muy, muy interesante.
También ayuda, obviamente, que esté publicado por Acantilado, una de mis editoriales favoritas, como ya sabéis.
Ya el título es muy interesante, y la contra nos avisa que se hará un recorrido por la historia sobre la calma, la contemplación, el diálogo interior a través de la filosofía, de la escritura y el arte. No podía fallar y la verdad es que no lo ha hecho.
La lectura nos lleva por distintos lugares, por la propia naturaleza, por la palabra de otros que ya le dieron la importancia necesaria al silencio y a la quietud, por las relaciones amorosas, por la religión, por distintas técnicas y aprendizajes… Nos acompaña por un camino hacia nosotros mismos, hacia el pensamiento, hacia el recogimiento, hacia conocernos más y mejor. En definitiva, hacia el punto exacto al que yo llevo un tiempo dirigiéndome.
Es una lectura muy agradable, llena de curiosidades, de citas, de otros autores a los que se nos invita a llegar. Un ensayo muy bien construido.
Además, ha cumplido su “cometido” y me ha ayudado mucho con la escritura. ¿Qué más le puedo pedir a un libro?
Lo que más me ha gustado: siendo egoísta (o práctico, quizá), esa ayuda para darle forma al poemario.
Lo que menos me ha gustado: puede ser que haya más religión de la que me habría gustado, aunque este libro y el tema sobre el que gira también lo requería.
El silencio santifica nuestras cruces y nuestras aflicciones. Protege de la cólera, es el medio más rápido para vencer la presión de la venganza y los deseos de curiosidad.
Alain Corbin
Autora: Alain Corbin
Editorial: Acantilado
Por el mismo motivo que leí el último libro que he reseñado (Breve tratado de la soledad), he leído esta Historia del silencio: por escribir poesía. Sabía que esos –la soledad, el silencio, la sombra– iban a ser temas fundamentales en el poemario que estaba escribiendo (y que ya he terminado, todo sea dicho), así que busqué ensayos que tuvieran que ver con esos términos y, de casualidad, encontré este de Alain Corbinque es muy, muy interesante.
También ayuda, obviamente, que esté publicado por Acantilado, una de mis editoriales favoritas, como ya sabéis.
Ya el título es muy interesante, y la contra nos avisa que se hará un recorrido por la historia sobre la calma, la contemplación, el diálogo interior a través de la filosofía, de la escritura y el arte. No podía fallar y la verdad es que no lo ha hecho.
La lectura nos lleva por distintos lugares, por la propia naturaleza, por la palabra de otros que ya le dieron la importancia necesaria al silencio y a la quietud, por las relaciones amorosas, por la religión, por distintas técnicas y aprendizajes… Nos acompaña por un camino hacia nosotros mismos, hacia el pensamiento, hacia el recogimiento, hacia conocernos más y mejor. En definitiva, hacia el punto exacto al que yo llevo un tiempo dirigiéndome.
Es una lectura muy agradable, llena de curiosidades, de citas, de otros autores a los que se nos invita a llegar. Un ensayo muy bien construido.
Además, ha cumplido su “cometido” y me ha ayudado mucho con la escritura. ¿Qué más le puedo pedir a un libro?
Lo que más me ha gustado: siendo egoísta (o práctico, quizá), esa ayuda para darle forma al poemario.
Lo que menos me ha gustado: puede ser que haya más religión de la que me habría gustado, aunque este libro y el tema sobre el que gira también lo requería.
El silencio santifica nuestras cruces y nuestras aflicciones. Protege de la cólera, es el medio más rápido para vencer la presión de la venganza y los deseos de curiosidad.
Alain Corbin
October 10, 2018
Je l'ai enregistré en histoire, mais c'est plus une ode, une philosophie du silence. Si on cherche de l'histoire pure et dure, c'est un poil fouillis: les époques sont mélangées et la part belle et faite à l'histoire de la religion chrétienne. A l'histoire de l'art aussi. Mais la plume de corbin est belle, et le bouquin se laisse lire.
May 4, 2019
A pioneering study, giving some impressions on how silence was experienced and seeked, through recent time. Just tentative, and very French-orientated. See my review in my general account: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
December 6, 2023
A fantastic exploration into the history of silence, particularly featuring classics from the French Literature Canon. My most favourite and cherished parts of this history were the chapters on the meditations of Charles de Foucauld and his spiritual treatise on the silence of Saint Joseph of Nazareth; and also the chapter on the interior prayer life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
This book also features intriguing insights into the history of social manners and social silences within previous centuries and our own. An engaging read, the writer really hits his stride from Chapter Three onwards... the parts about Saint Joseph will stay with me always, thankful for those parts alone... (3.5 stars).
This book also features intriguing insights into the history of social manners and social silences within previous centuries and our own. An engaging read, the writer really hits his stride from Chapter Three onwards... the parts about Saint Joseph will stay with me always, thankful for those parts alone... (3.5 stars).
June 17, 2018
. . . old people weighed down by years of silence. p. 7
Proust the fine bouquet of a silence so nourishing, so succulent that I could not enter . . . without a sort of greedy enjoyment, particularly on those first mornings, chilly still, of the Easter holidays, when I could tste it more fully, because I had just arrived then at Combray. p. 9
Zola the silence in the bedroom was 'so absolute' that it accentuated every sound and revealed the noises ' of the quivering, sighing house'. p. 10
Rodenbach 'thin window panes always complicit with the outside' p. 12
Thoreau "Silence alone is worthy to be heard. . . * * * Picard great reserves of silence. p. 19
Auguste Colin Ineffable harmonies of eternal silence! p. 25
It is silent. You can tell it anything you want; it is a trusty confidant. p. 29
Moulin [So the woods too have their way of being silent/ And of being obscure in the eyes turned on them in dreams./ One feels in their silence the spirit of noise roaming.] p. 32
. . . value the month of October, because it restored silence to the countryside. p. 34
"Paths of colorless silence" ran through the heart of the town of Bruges, and "waters full of goodbyes p. 35
. . a poet would sit there silently, to taste the quietude. . . p. 36
. . . St. James, who asked that everyone be quick to listen and slow to speak. p. 45
Many people have searched for silence outside the religious sphere or on its margins. p. 51
In On the Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche observes that it is necessary to be silent to be receptive to new things. p. 52
In our own day, it is this need that is felt by customers of the French hotel chain, the Relais du silence, which promises is holidaying guests silence, proof of just how precious it has become. p. 53
"Some there are', wrote Maeterlinck, 'that have no silence, and that kill the silence around them, and these are the only creatures that pass through life unperceived". * * * Talking, on the other hand, is only too often the art of stifling and suspending thought, which can only take place in silence. p. 54
. . . . Silentiarios . . . . Inside a church, silence is a mark of respect, of self-control and of the capacity to master the impulses. p. 55
. . . silence is just as contagious as laughter. p. 57
Not to talk was also to show that you were ready to listen; and in this century of confidences and elective affinities, the silence of he who knew how to listen was revealed as of extreme value. p. 59
It is as if silence and the well-being it procures were no more than intermittent needs, dependent on time and place. p. 65 ??
'Words stop silence from speaking.' [ionesco] p. 68
Picard 'when two people are conversing with one another . . . a third is always present: silence is listening. ' p. 69
. . . we hug silence to us, and are very misers of it. * * * Pascal Quignard . . . 'I've done too much music today. I shall bather my ears in silence. p. 71
Words are tactless, they interrupt one's peace, demand attention . . . painting and sculpture seem more serious: you have to seek them out'; the 'silent charm' of painting ' has the same power, and even seems to increase each time we look at the work'. p. 72
. . . a thickening of the silence. !!!!!! * * * Claudel . . . critical of the way pottery is crammed together in museums, when really each item demands to be surrounded by "a certain expanse of solitude and silence'. * * * muta eloquentia * * * oratio interior . . . p. 73
Raphael . . . Silence of the Virgin. . . .p. 75
Garcia Lorca. . . Listen my child, to the silence./ It's an undulating silence,/ a silence/ that brings valleys and echoes down/ and bows foreheads/ to the ground. p. 78
Gaston Bachelard Great waves of silence . . . vibrate in poems. p. 80
Syrus . . . 'you should remain silent, or your words should be more valuable than your silence', Dionysius Cato said: ; There is no danger in keeping quiet, there may be in speaking.' p. 85 !!!!!!
True, ignorance frequently took refuge in the sanctuary of silence. . . . p 87 !!!!!!
M. de Moncade opined that "if people only said useful things, there would be deep silence in the world. p. 88
11 types of silence prudent, artful, complaisant, spiritual and stupid, not forgetting the silence which were a mark of approval, of disdain, of humor, of caprice and of political acumen. p. 89
Antoine de Baecque . . .'one should cease to remain silent only when one has something to say which is more valuable than silence'; 'one only ever knows how to speak well if one has previously learned to remain silent'; ' the wise man has an expressive silence'. p. 89-90
"fools are more easily carried aWAY BY THE EMPTY PLEASURE OF LISTENING TO THEIR OWN VOICES . . . THEY ARE LESS INTERESTED IN INFORMING THEIR READERS (LISTENERS) THAN IN DAZZLING THEM WITH THEIR BRILLIANCE.' P. 91 [Listening lets you consider what is said to you and, also, consider your response, not just take the time when someone else is talking to plan what you will say when he pauses.]
"Thus the mute heaven has not wished to say anything to us', or 'Bishops, take care, or silence alone will respond to the eternal sielcne of the Divinity.' p. 111 !!!!!! silence on he who never speaks [Vigny]
Proust the fine bouquet of a silence so nourishing, so succulent that I could not enter . . . without a sort of greedy enjoyment, particularly on those first mornings, chilly still, of the Easter holidays, when I could tste it more fully, because I had just arrived then at Combray. p. 9
Zola the silence in the bedroom was 'so absolute' that it accentuated every sound and revealed the noises ' of the quivering, sighing house'. p. 10
Rodenbach 'thin window panes always complicit with the outside' p. 12
Thoreau "Silence alone is worthy to be heard. . . * * * Picard great reserves of silence. p. 19
Auguste Colin Ineffable harmonies of eternal silence! p. 25
It is silent. You can tell it anything you want; it is a trusty confidant. p. 29
Moulin [So the woods too have their way of being silent/ And of being obscure in the eyes turned on them in dreams./ One feels in their silence the spirit of noise roaming.] p. 32
. . . value the month of October, because it restored silence to the countryside. p. 34
"Paths of colorless silence" ran through the heart of the town of Bruges, and "waters full of goodbyes p. 35
. . a poet would sit there silently, to taste the quietude. . . p. 36
. . . St. James, who asked that everyone be quick to listen and slow to speak. p. 45
Many people have searched for silence outside the religious sphere or on its margins. p. 51
In On the Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche observes that it is necessary to be silent to be receptive to new things. p. 52
In our own day, it is this need that is felt by customers of the French hotel chain, the Relais du silence, which promises is holidaying guests silence, proof of just how precious it has become. p. 53
"Some there are', wrote Maeterlinck, 'that have no silence, and that kill the silence around them, and these are the only creatures that pass through life unperceived". * * * Talking, on the other hand, is only too often the art of stifling and suspending thought, which can only take place in silence. p. 54
. . . . Silentiarios . . . . Inside a church, silence is a mark of respect, of self-control and of the capacity to master the impulses. p. 55
. . . silence is just as contagious as laughter. p. 57
Not to talk was also to show that you were ready to listen; and in this century of confidences and elective affinities, the silence of he who knew how to listen was revealed as of extreme value. p. 59
It is as if silence and the well-being it procures were no more than intermittent needs, dependent on time and place. p. 65 ??
'Words stop silence from speaking.' [ionesco] p. 68
Picard 'when two people are conversing with one another . . . a third is always present: silence is listening. ' p. 69
. . . we hug silence to us, and are very misers of it. * * * Pascal Quignard . . . 'I've done too much music today. I shall bather my ears in silence. p. 71
Words are tactless, they interrupt one's peace, demand attention . . . painting and sculpture seem more serious: you have to seek them out'; the 'silent charm' of painting ' has the same power, and even seems to increase each time we look at the work'. p. 72
. . . a thickening of the silence. !!!!!! * * * Claudel . . . critical of the way pottery is crammed together in museums, when really each item demands to be surrounded by "a certain expanse of solitude and silence'. * * * muta eloquentia * * * oratio interior . . . p. 73
Raphael . . . Silence of the Virgin. . . .p. 75
Garcia Lorca. . . Listen my child, to the silence./ It's an undulating silence,/ a silence/ that brings valleys and echoes down/ and bows foreheads/ to the ground. p. 78
Gaston Bachelard Great waves of silence . . . vibrate in poems. p. 80
Syrus . . . 'you should remain silent, or your words should be more valuable than your silence', Dionysius Cato said: ; There is no danger in keeping quiet, there may be in speaking.' p. 85 !!!!!!
True, ignorance frequently took refuge in the sanctuary of silence. . . . p 87 !!!!!!
M. de Moncade opined that "if people only said useful things, there would be deep silence in the world. p. 88
11 types of silence prudent, artful, complaisant, spiritual and stupid, not forgetting the silence which were a mark of approval, of disdain, of humor, of caprice and of political acumen. p. 89
Antoine de Baecque . . .'one should cease to remain silent only when one has something to say which is more valuable than silence'; 'one only ever knows how to speak well if one has previously learned to remain silent'; ' the wise man has an expressive silence'. p. 89-90
"fools are more easily carried aWAY BY THE EMPTY PLEASURE OF LISTENING TO THEIR OWN VOICES . . . THEY ARE LESS INTERESTED IN INFORMING THEIR READERS (LISTENERS) THAN IN DAZZLING THEM WITH THEIR BRILLIANCE.' P. 91 [Listening lets you consider what is said to you and, also, consider your response, not just take the time when someone else is talking to plan what you will say when he pauses.]
"Thus the mute heaven has not wished to say anything to us', or 'Bishops, take care, or silence alone will respond to the eternal sielcne of the Divinity.' p. 111 !!!!!! silence on he who never speaks [Vigny]
June 9, 2020
"Un recorregut sobre com s’ha entès el silenci des del Renaixement fins ara, tractat amb finura i originalitat, en el que s’impliquen diferents àmbits de la sensibilitat humana.
Trobem primer el silenci en la intimitat dels llocs on apareix com una mena de soroll lleuger, proper, aquest lloc seria la casa, la llar. Passem al silenci de la natura, on certs sorolls el fan ressonar amb gran profunditat, com el desert o la muntanya.
Ens recorda l’autor que la recerca del silenci, el seu aprenentatge, impregna tota la història humana, nombrosos filòsofs, religiosos, escriptors i artises han experimentat la necessitat del silenci i els seus beneficis.
En el món interior qualsevol cerca pot fructificar en la intimitat més profunda i en el silenci més absolut. Sigui Wittgenstein o Thoreau, el vincle entre la paraula i el silenci ha estat explorat en àmbits com la música, la teologia, l’escriptura, la pintura o el cinema. Igualment, ens les relacions socials es posen de manifest les tàctiques del silenci, les seves avantatges i inconvenients, la seva relació amb la imatge que constriuim de nosaltres i la manera com dissenyem la nostra distinció.
I si en l’amor trobem el silenci com un ingredient essencial, també li trobem en l’odi, quan el silenci esdevé element primordial de ruptures i desctruccions.
I és que el silenci te una dimensió tràgica, obscura, hostil, alguna cosa angoixant. Un temor al silenci que ens porta a fugir cap el soroll, alhora que sentim que el soroll ens allunya de nosaltres mateixos." Marta Ramoneda
Trobem primer el silenci en la intimitat dels llocs on apareix com una mena de soroll lleuger, proper, aquest lloc seria la casa, la llar. Passem al silenci de la natura, on certs sorolls el fan ressonar amb gran profunditat, com el desert o la muntanya.
Ens recorda l’autor que la recerca del silenci, el seu aprenentatge, impregna tota la història humana, nombrosos filòsofs, religiosos, escriptors i artises han experimentat la necessitat del silenci i els seus beneficis.
En el món interior qualsevol cerca pot fructificar en la intimitat més profunda i en el silenci més absolut. Sigui Wittgenstein o Thoreau, el vincle entre la paraula i el silenci ha estat explorat en àmbits com la música, la teologia, l’escriptura, la pintura o el cinema. Igualment, ens les relacions socials es posen de manifest les tàctiques del silenci, les seves avantatges i inconvenients, la seva relació amb la imatge que constriuim de nosaltres i la manera com dissenyem la nostra distinció.
I si en l’amor trobem el silenci com un ingredient essencial, també li trobem en l’odi, quan el silenci esdevé element primordial de ruptures i desctruccions.
I és que el silenci te una dimensió tràgica, obscura, hostil, alguna cosa angoixant. Un temor al silenci que ens porta a fugir cap el soroll, alhora que sentim que el soroll ens allunya de nosaltres mateixos." Marta Ramoneda
January 5, 2020
Un ensayo que leí por trabajo, pero que ha acabado siendo mi compañero de transporte público. Porque que mejor que recuperar las teorías sobre el silencio de los grandes artistas y filósofos en un autobús lleno de gente? 'Historia del silencio' es un libro denso, lo tiene que ser a la fuerza para recoger los pensamientos desde el renacimiento hasta nuestros tiempos, pero a pesar de estar lleno de citas y referencias no es nada complicado de seguir, aunque necesita su tiempo. El problema llega en el significado, ya que no encuentro el verdadero sentido del estudio. No sé que es lo que quiere mostrar más allá de la importancia del silencio en todos los tiempos, cosa que ya sabíamos. Es por esto que quizá me ha decepcionado un poco, pero me llevo todo lo que he podido aprender sobre el silencio y sus teorias, que no es poco.
May 13, 2017
2,5
Une première approche de ce que le silence peut évoquer, et du poids du silence dans le passé. C'est bien écrit et plutôt intéressant, cependant les dimensions littéraires, artistiques et religieuses sont un peu trop développées par rapport à la dimension purement historique, ce livre ne répond donc pas vraiment à mes attentes. Le passage sur le silence qui finit par s'imposer au corps, sauf dans le cas de la jouissance, était plus de l'ordre de ce que j'attendais, mais ce n'est pas la majorité du livre.
En bref, un livre en soi plutôt bon, mais qui ne correspondait pas à ce que j'en attendais, je suis donc un peu déçue après un bon début.
Une première approche de ce que le silence peut évoquer, et du poids du silence dans le passé. C'est bien écrit et plutôt intéressant, cependant les dimensions littéraires, artistiques et religieuses sont un peu trop développées par rapport à la dimension purement historique, ce livre ne répond donc pas vraiment à mes attentes. Le passage sur le silence qui finit par s'imposer au corps, sauf dans le cas de la jouissance, était plus de l'ordre de ce que j'attendais, mais ce n'est pas la majorité du livre.
En bref, un livre en soi plutôt bon, mais qui ne correspondait pas à ce que j'en attendais, je suis donc un peu déçue après un bon début.
January 14, 2020
Considero que el texto de Corbin resulta ambicioso para el título dado. Es un texto prolífico en referencias que escapan al lector corriente -tal vez poco cercano a la literatura francesa- y por tanto éstas resultan digiriendose de modo superficial; resulta engorroso hallarlas en un sólo párrafo sin hilvanar. A pesar de ello, hay capítulos buenos, en los que se presentan espacios y situaciones comunes al lector, como los son " El silencio y la intimidad de los lugares", "Los silencios de la naturaleza" y "De los silencios del amor al silencio del odio".
October 24, 2020
Os dejo a continuación el enlace a mi review en IGTV sobre este libro. No lo he podido terminar porque me parece tedioso y aburrido pero aquí podéis encontrar más información.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CGej7BpK...
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CGej7BpK...
October 3, 2022
Ensayo exigente. ¿Es lo que me esperaba? No. A ratos me aburría soberanamente la excesiva cantidad de citas. Esperaba que el autor desarrollase más sus ideas, aunque se apoyara en otros. Aún así, no puedo decir que no me haya gustado. Tres estrellitas.
September 11, 2018
The English translation is out from Polity Press. Here's my review in The Woven Tale Press:
https://wtpcentral.thewoventalepress....
https://wtpcentral.thewoventalepress....
May 7, 2020
Demasiadas referencias. Nada concreto. Mucha expectativa creada en torno al libro.
August 7, 2020
Ceci n'est pas une histoire du silence, mais plutôt une compilation de réflexions sur le silence, notamment à travers des citations d'auteurs contemporains.
February 16, 2021
Прекрасная книга! В лучших традициях исследования предмета.
August 2, 2023
I expected an actual history of silence (the concept, the practices) and I found a bunch of quotes with very little commentary or development or any value added really. Really disappointing.
August 25, 2022
Kitap eksik kalmış bence, daha kapsamlı anlatılabilirdi. Aceleye gelmiş gibi hissettim.
November 1, 2023
A curious mix of sometimes interesting and certainly very erudite musings and quotations with something that veers close to meaningless bullshit, or so it seems to me.
For all its merits, there are passages that cannot but raise eyebrows, like when Corbin starts talking about silent movies:
Now apart from the question of what on earth all this means: Murnau never made a Frankenstein movie, that I know. And King Kong was not a silent movie. So is this some even more ethereal arty farty theorizing about the silentness of non-silent movies? Or is he just talking about misremembered films (and hell, what does it matter, it's all popular culture so not important anyway)? Or is it a simple matter of sloppy editing?
I don't know. Maybe I'm too dumb (huh huh) for this kind of film criticism.
For all its merits, there are passages that cannot but raise eyebrows, like when Corbin starts talking about silent movies:
Le cinéma muet a su dire, avec une force extrême, les émotions et les sentiments. Cela, chacun le sait et songe aux silencieuses apparitions de Dracula ou du monstre de Frankenstein de dans les films muets de Murnau, au visage tant expressif de la Jeanne de Dreyer, sans oubliers l'émerveillement de l'amour dans les films de Charlie Chaplin. Le corps parlant du cinéma muet a fait l'objet de nombreux ouvrages. Le cri de Fay Wray dans la main de King Kong est le plus silencieux de l'histore du cinéma. Il prouve que le silence, au cinéma muet, est une matière, une donné sensible.
Now apart from the question of what on earth all this means: Murnau never made a Frankenstein movie, that I know. And King Kong was not a silent movie. So is this some even more ethereal arty farty theorizing about the silentness of non-silent movies? Or is he just talking about misremembered films (and hell, what does it matter, it's all popular culture so not important anyway)? Or is it a simple matter of sloppy editing?
I don't know. Maybe I'm too dumb (huh huh) for this kind of film criticism.
August 8, 2023
Beaucoup de références littéraires et artistiques qui rendent l'ouvrage moins accessible. Il n'en reste pas moins très intéressant, nous invitant à réfléchir à la place que nous accordons au silence et à sa signification dans nos imaginaires collectifs.
Un passage sur l'amitié que j'ai particulièrement aimé, où Alain Corbin mentionne Max Picard citant Péguy dans Le Monde du silence : "[les amis] goûtent le plaisir de se taire ensemble, de se taire côte à côte, de marcher longtemps, longtemps, d'aller, de marcher silencieusement le long des silencieuses routes. Heureux deux amis qui s'aiment assez pour (savoir) se taire ensemble. Dans un pays qui sait se taire."
Un passage sur l'amitié que j'ai particulièrement aimé, où Alain Corbin mentionne Max Picard citant Péguy dans Le Monde du silence : "[les amis] goûtent le plaisir de se taire ensemble, de se taire côte à côte, de marcher longtemps, longtemps, d'aller, de marcher silencieusement le long des silencieuses routes. Heureux deux amis qui s'aiment assez pour (savoir) se taire ensemble. Dans un pays qui sait se taire."
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