Total language refusal can function as a critique of a whole social order

Evidence

It doesn ‘t feel right to have to represent someone so rigorously adrift, sa 1 won ‘t try to describe him. “Vhat 1 wOllld like to show is the nature of this speechlessness. AlI the languages of the world had come ta die here in the quiet, tortured rjection ofwhat was going on aIl around him in this country: another constant downward drift yet one performed with an anxious satisfaction; the obtrusive sounds of an excitement that is not sure of itself, the pursuit of a happiness that is Iimited ta shaky privileges, the imperceptible numbing effect of quarrels taken to represent a mjor battle. AlI this he rejected, casting us out to the edges of his silence. — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 627

Categorization

• SEED: The silent walking man refusing all languages is a concrete figure for what rejecting the imposed speech-order looks like physically — a possible anchor image for the strategic-essentialism argument.
• FICTION: A character rendered inarticulate to the point of metronome pacing as a living refusal — strong scene seed.
• CANDY: The image of a man who stopped talking because all the world’s languages had come to die in him is striking enough to retell briefly.
• XREF: connects to: Choosing which language to speak is a silent act of group allegiance — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1292; Indigenous scholars treat refusal and incommensurability as political correctives against oppressive forms of understanding — Farhan Samanani, Conviviality and its others: for a…, 66; Mixed-race people articulate a counter-language against imposed racial negation — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2471 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Indigenous scholars treat refusal and incommensurability as political correctives against oppressive forms of understanding #exemplifies (0.85) — Farhan Samanani, Conviviality and its others, 66
• Functional language serves to coordinate and subordinate society #expands (0.82) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 404
• Resisting colonial discourse using its own terms constitutes silent submission #complicates (0.80) — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 753
• Choosing which language to speak is a silent act of group allegiance #qualifies (0.75) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1292
• Mixed-race people articulate a counter-language against imposed racial negation #exemplifies (0.72) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2471