Towards a rhetoric of silence. The narrative of silence in portuguese literature

Abstract

The narrative of silence in a narrative text requires to enquire about the forms and meanings that can be reached. Using it in a text implies searching for different expressive formulae that can hold it without interrupting the narrative flow. Given their interest in the expression of different topics and realities, several Portuguese women writers hace participated in the organization of a rhetoric of silence. In this group o women writers, who have achieved a number of statements for the silence, we can highlight the three authors of Novas cartas portuguesas, Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta and Maria Velho da Costa, and Maria Judite de Carvalho, Teolinda Gersão y Maria Gabriela Llansol. This article delves into some of the formulae proposed by these writers, according to the sense and depth of silence in their texts, with the aim of providing some examples of the narrative os silence that can constitute a rhetoric of silence.