Synopsis

​The book:  a meditation on a re-invigorated culture concept, on psychological repression, and on vibrant societal multi-lingualism.  Its people: inhabitants of a borderland left 300 kilometers east of the post 1945 German-Polish border (though almost atop the border of 1921 – 1939).  Languages:  German, Polish, and the Silesian dialect of Polish, used to multiple expressive purposes both separately and mixed together at many linguistic levels.  Silence:  a society coping five decades later with the traumatic effects of the Soviet invasion of 1945, an experience which is rarely discussed.  Culture:  inherently relational, yet inescapably autonomous; focussed on languages, grounded in power relations among groups; and profoundly psychological.




​Scroll down to find three excerpts 
​from the book, namely... ➔

Links

I am grateful to my Senior Honors English class for taking on the project of creating a web-site for ​Languages and Silence.  This link takes you to an author interview, quick summary of historical background, and glossary.  You can also listen to the sound clips that have been transcribed and translated in the book.  See if you can follow along, in German, Polish and/or Silesian, in the real time of actual speech!

​Languages and Silence ​is also on Facebook:  

​The Table of Contents,

​The Preface, a powerful memory of trauma during the Holocaust, and,

An observational analysis of how Silesian-speaking first graders learn Polish in school -- and come to think of themselves as multi-lingual.