Glossary: silence

A location in an argument or another form of discourse where something should rightfully be said, but isn't.

Following Althusser following Freud, silences are irruptions of the unconscious into conscious discourses. In our use, the irruption is typically that of the dominant ideology, or of an incantation. In other words, silences are not empty, they're filled, almost always by something evil.

Silences are just about always interesting. When you find one, you've found a crucial location in the discourse. If that discourse is a theory, you may have found a spot where it falls apart. Or, where it does something very different than it's intended to do.

Silences are evil because they close discussion right where discussion should be most forcefully opened up.