Indicated silences in American novels

Studies have tended to focus on implied, not indicated, silences and/or to define silence as the opposite and inferior condition of speech, reproducing and reinforcing the man/woman hierarchical binary. This study, defining silence as the complement of speech, analyzes the significance of silences indicated by words and/or punctuation. Its purpose is to illustrate that an author\u27s uses of silence reflect her subject position during a particular historical moment, that trends in uses evolve gradually, and that their direction can be predicted. The principal novels and authors used as exempla are At Fault and The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Contending Forces and Winona by Pauline Hopkins, and Plagued by the Nightingale and The Underground Woman by Kay Boyle. The introduction reviews critical perceptions of silence; informed by texts of M. M. Bakhtin, Chris Weedon, George Kalamaras, and King-Kok Cheung, redefines silence; and posits new possibilities for understanding silence. The conclusion briefly analyzes Paule Marshall\u27s Brown Girl, Brownstones and Praisesong for the Widow. Beginning with Chopin\u27s novels, some of the protagonist\u27s silences reflect the extent to which she conforms to the image of the Southern lady. Beginning with Hopkins\u27s novels, the extent to which the protagonist develops a sense of self different from her subject position depends upon her speech community and whether members of it sometimes remain silent. Beginning with Boyle\u27s novels, the community includes a person of a race and/or gender different from the protagonist, and the protagonist, with the help of her community, uses silence to develop a new subjectivity. All of these trends are confirmed in Marshall\u27s novels, and, in the foreseeable future, they may be expected to continue in novels by women