Routledge The Power of Silence: Silent Communication in Daily Life

This book demonstrates that silence is eloquent, powerful, beautiful and even dangerous. It surrounds and permeates our daily lives. Drawing on a wide range of cross-cultural, literary and historical sources, the author explores the uses and abuses of silence. He explains how silence is not associated with solitude alone but has a much broader value within society. The main themes of The Power of Silence are positive and negative uses of silence, and the various ways in which silence has been understood culturally, socially and spiritually. The book's objectives are to equip people with a better appreciation of the value of silence and to enable them to explore its benefits and uses more easily for themselves. Review "A brilliant and inspiring book that clearly illustrates how silence has shaped history and culture as much as the spoken word has."--Gillian Wearing, artist, and winner of the Turner Prize for Sixty-Minute Silence "An impressively wide-ranging and informative survey of the joys and dangers of silence as cultural concept and practice. Kenny draws the reader into this fascinating topic with the breadth of his scholarship and even-handedness of his judgements."--Professor Stuart Sim, author of Manifesto for Silence: Confronting the Politics and Culture of Noise "Engaging, thought-provoking, and full of fascinating detail, this is a must-read for anyone intrigued by the place of silence in today's increasingly noisy world. Kenny's crisp writing skillfully illuminates the many faces of silence."--Dr Jolyon Mitchell, Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues "Kenny moves the reader to fully appreciate the beauty in silences of peaceful interconnection, those that make music ebb and flow, and the therapeutic silences of self-knowledge. He shows the multifaceted nature of silence and the profound importance of context in understanding its meaning."--Dr Heidi M. Levitt, Department of Psychology "Kenny's book will be invaluable for anyone who wants to explore the richness and complexity of silence in a wide range of social domains and activities. Silence emerges as a multifaceted resource with which we create meaning and a powerful metaphor through which we can gain understanding of the surrounding world. The Power of Silence will engage readers and enrich their experience of this most ineffable of all the communicative forms."--Prof. Adam Jaworski, Centre for Language and Communication Research About the Author Colum Kenny