LEADER 03787ctm a2200409 a 4500001 23484 005 20240621143042.0 008 870305s1984 xx rbm 000 0 eng d 035 (OCoLC)ocm45501462 035 23484 049 LHMA 040 FUG |beng |erda |cFUG |dLHM 050 4 PQ2683.I32 |bC322 1984 090 PQ2683.I32 |bZ62 1984 100 1 Cedars, Marie Meisel, |d1920- 245 10 Speaking through silence : |bthe art of Elie Wiesel / |cby Marie Meisel Cedars. 264 0 |c1984. 300 xi, 200 pages 336 text |btxt |2rdacontent 337 unmediated |bn |2rdamedia 338 volume |bnc |2rdacarrier 502 Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Arlington, 1984. 504 Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-200). 520 Elie Wiesel's concise, understated style known as silence evokes the reader's participation in Wiesel's Holocaust experience and in his confrontation with its implications. This study analyzes what Wiesel says, proposes what he leaves unsaid, and suggests the reasons for and effect of his omissions. Documentation is drawn from Wiesel's original French works, and his style is compared with that of other survivors. The Introduction notes previous works on silence in general and on Wiesel's silence in particular. Part I defines silence as what is not said but is a presence, is intentional, and is expressed through words and the spaces around them. Part II explores the sources of Wiesel's silence in his deeply religious childhood, in the destruction of his faith in the death camps, and in the impotence of language to tell his incredible and incommunicable experience. After a ten-year silence, Wiesel chose the reticent style of the Bible to convey his testimony. Part III analyzes seven groups of manifestations of Wiesel's silence: (1) The neutral tone suppresses emotion, reveals despair, and represents the perception of the witness. (2) The absence of explanations and causal connectives indicates Wiesel's belief that the Covenant between God and His people had been broken. (3) Conciseness avoids distortion and retains only essence. (4) Understatement improves credibility and emphasizes implications. (5) After La Nuit, allusion through stories, aphorisms, and "dialogues" replaces direct mention of the Holocaust. (6) Silent spaces reveal emotional stress or passage of time and may become the dominant figure in an utterance. (7) Unanswerable questions prick the conscience, mute characters demonstrate the intentionality in silence and its ability to absorb and reflect, and names emphasize the partnership of man and God. An Afterword summarizes Wiesel's change to speaking out against inhumanity everywhere as he awakens man to his responsibility. He stresses what man can and must do despite God's silence. His style becomes more lyrical when he retrieves the Hasidic ambience of his childhood. Yet silence as a mood persists in his novels where he continues to wrestle with the Holocaust's legacy. 530 Electronic version(s) |bavailable internally at USHMM. 533 Photocopy. |bAnn Arbor, Mich. : |cUMI Dissertation Services, |d1996. |e22 cm. 590 Dissertations and Theses 591 Record updated by Marcive processing 21 June 2024 600 10 Wiesel, Elie, |d1928-2016 |xCriticism and interpretation. 650 0 Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature. 655 7 Academic theses. |2lcgft 856 41 |uhttp://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=751851971&sid=6&Fmt=6&clientId=54617&RQT=309&VName=PQD |zElectronic version from ProQuest 956 41 |uhttp://dc.ushmm.org/library/bib23484/8701098.pdf |zHosted by USHMM. 994 E0 |bLHM 852 0 |bstacks |hPQ2683.I32 |iZ62 1984 852 |bwww 852 |bebook