Ed Pluth - On Silence: Holding the Voice Hostage

Jacques Lacan is one of the most important and influential thinkers of the 20th century. The reach of this influence continues to grow as we settle into the 21st century, the resonance of Lacans thought arguably only beginning now to be properly felt, both in terms of its application to clinical matters and in its application to a range of human activities and interests. The Palgrave Lacan Series is a book series for the best new writing in the Lacanian field, giving voice to the leading writers of a new generation of Lacanian thought. The series will comprise original monographs and thematic, multi-authored collections. The books in the series will explore aspects of Lacans theory from new perspectives and with original insights. There will be books focused on particular areas of or issues in clinical work. There will be books focused on applying Lacanian theory to areas and issues beyond the clinic, to matters of society, politics, the arts and culture. Each book, whatever its particular concern, will work to expand our understanding of Lacans theory and its value in the 21st century.

More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15116

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This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

It would be rather remiss to remain silent regarding those who have helped us along the way. We are eternally grateful to our editor, Joanna ONeill who has shown infinite patience and support throughout the writing of this book. We would like to acknowledge the series editors, Calum Neill and Derek Hook for their enthusiasm of this project.

There are our friends and colleagues who have shown support through their conversations and engagement with the tricky subject of silence: Jelica umi-Riha, Russell Sbriglia, Molly Rothenberg, Mladen Dolar, Nick Derrick.

Finally, there are those in our lives who realise that the only way to support us co-authoring a book is to simply remain silent and let us get on with it. Here we thank our silent partners, An Bulkens and Reuben Derrick. And we are also thankful to those who in our deliberations of silence, absolutely refuse this command: our children, Oscar Pluth, Naima and Iris Derrick.

Nothing is easier than to spit out some profound insight about silence as the expression of deep wisdom; it is much more difficult to systematically analyse the multiple ways silence can function: silence as a simple sign of ignorance, silence as a sign that one is overwhelmed by too much to say (or by something that is too traumatic to be put into words)There are silences and silences: when one talks all the time just so that the thing that really matters is not mentioned, this is also a mode of practicing silence, and when one keeps silent instead of providing the expected reply, this silence can be more revealing than all the words. Pluth and Zeihers On Silence provides a systematic exposition of the different modalities of silence, demonstrating that silence, not external reality, is the real object around which words circulate. The book combines the highest conceptual stringency with a clear and witty style which makes it insanely readable. If On Silence will not become an instant classic, then it is better for us, philosophers and other thinkers, to just shut up.

Slavoj iek, European Graduate School, Switzerland, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, New York University, USA and Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, UK

This compact, lively book makes an invaluable case for silence as an essential concept linking philosophy and psychoanalysis. From their critical examination of the ethical implications of apophasis to their exploration of the pragmatics of silence in psychoanalytic treatment, Pluth and Zeiher nimbly extricate us from clichs about silence as the beyond of language. Drawing on an astonishing range of references, the authors deliver surprise after surprise: those familiar with Lacanian psychoanalysis will find fresh insights into the intertwined logics of silence and signifier relevant to analytic theory and practice, while those interested in the history of the concept of silence will be rewarded with original readings of philosophers of being and language from the Greeks to the present day. Without sacrificing an iota of rigor, the authors write in a clear and humorous way, leading the reader on an enjoyable journey through complex arguments that will be engaging for undergraduates as well as revelatory to specialists. It is essential reading.

Molly Anne Rothenberg, Professor of English, Tulane University, USA

The rest is silence, says Hamlet, and dies, leaving us with an enigmatic and cumbersome rest at the dawn of modernity, a rest which is not even a something. The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me, said Pascal a good half-century later, further imposing on us this unfathomable object that modernity will have to deal with. Ed Pluth and Cindy Zeiher take us on a stunning tour that explores all the facets of this elusive object, tackling the essential relation between silence and language, the inherent negativity and apophasis, the fullness and the void, offering us new readings of the philosophical tradition as well as of Beckett, Melville, Claudel, Cage All this with a firm red thread in their hands, that of the psychoanalytic take on silence as the essential guideline of its theory and practice, and of Lacans intervention that doesnt cease to surprise and inspire.