The Sound of Silence: Unspoken Meaning in the Discourse of Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women on Environmental Risks and Food Safety in Spain

Miguel Company-Morales,Eva Zafra Aparici,Andrés Fontalba-Navas,María Filomena Rubio Jiménez,Lina Casadó

doi:10.3390/nu14030593

Miguel Company-Morales, Eva Zafra Aparici + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030593

Copy DOI

Abstract

(1) Background: In recent years, a growing number of qualitative health research studies have performed discourse analysis of data from participants’ narratives. However, little attention has been paid to the gaps and silences within these narratives. The aim of the present study is to interpret the silences detected in the discourse of pregnant and breastfeeding women concerning environmental risks and food safety. (2) Methods: This descriptive, interpretive, observational study was conducted according to a qualitative research paradigm and from a phenomenological and ethnographic perspective. The study sample was composed of 88 intentionally selected women, among whom fifty interviews, three ethnographies and five focus groups were conducted. Data coding and analysis were performed using N-Vivo 12 software. (3) Results: The results obtained show that the women’s discourse presented silences that reflected their minimisation of perceived environmental and food risks. However, these women were wary of food produced in the proximity of contaminated areas. Nevertheless, the participants believed they were powerless to overcome environmental pollution and the potential contamination of their own bodies. (4) Conclusions: The participants’ minimisation of the environmental risks faced and their inaction in this respect are sustained by the biopolitical practices of public institutions, which have propelled these women into a situation of learned helplessness and social injustice.

Highlights

Silence is a meaningful resource that adds light and shade to communicative practices and merits the attention of qualitative researchers
Epistemological and psychological silences imply the representation of potential pragmatic functions, i.e., those related to cognition, reflection, caution, emotion, transgression or resistance
The psychological and normative silences [17] produced by the participants in these interviews, focus groups and ethnographies constitute an important source of information

Summary

Introduction

Silence is a meaningful resource that adds light and shade to communicative practices and merits the attention of qualitative researchers. People communicate their ideas, values and beliefs mainly via the spoken word and non-verbal language and through their silence. Studies have observed the importance of silence in their interpretation of discourse, in the view that “what is left unsaid” is of pragmatic value [1,2]. This pragmatic meaning of silence during a conversation may or may not be captured and interpreted by those addressed [3,4]. It is an essential element for the interpretation of discourse [5], and it has been argued that contextualised silence reflects at least one meaning in each communicative situation [1,6]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion