American experimental composer John Cage is well-known for Silence, his first book of lectures, scores, and writings published in 1961. In this work, Cage explores the nature of silence, which he believes can never truly exist. He says, “There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot. Sounds occur whether intended or not.” Cage may be most widely recognized for his 1952 composition 4’33” in which musicians are present on stage but play no music for a period of four minutes and 33 seconds. While often misinterpreted as four minutes and 33 seconds of silence, the work actually draws attention to the natural sounds of the environment as the audience and performers listen to the sounds of the space and each other. Cage’s avant-garde body of work is influenced by his study of Zen Buddhism, which sees silence as an aspect of spiritual practice.
Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher born in Algeria, is considered a leading figure in postmodern philosophy. Derrida views silence as the source of infinite possibilities in relationship to speech. As soon as speech emerges, the field of possibility closes. In Derrida’s words, “Silence plays the irreducible role of that that bears and haunts language, outside and against which alone language can emerge.” Derrida is known for his perspective, called deconstruction, on exploring dichotomies such as speech and silence. His deconstructionist form of literary criticism upended traditional assumptions of Western thought.
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