O mowie zawartej w milczeniu

Abstract

The article brings up the problem of extra-linguistic forms of statements and concentrates on silence as a kind of communication without using any system of signs. It also includes justification of the claim that silence is a kind of statement. This justification is based on examples of selected social situations and on the analysis of fixed word connections present in language. The following issue – “speech” included in silence – is considered in various disciplines of art, where silence can be one of the forms of expression. The article also presents a classifications of silence, however, in its final part it concentrates on silence in the religious situation and takes up the problem of silence as a statement. It leads to the separation of a specific type of silence – transcendental silence – in which speech is included.