Toward a Novel Approach to Examining Absence of Speech in Political Discourse

Abstract

This article reviews a unique contribution to political discourse analysis and to the study of absence of speech with inspirations for researchers interested in political and media studies. In her recent book Silence and Concealment in Political Discourse, Dr. Melani Schroter addresses a largely underexplored aspect of political discourse and offers a systematic presentation of theoretical underpinnings and empirical application of the analytical framework proposed for examining discursive absences and communicative value of silence. With three case studies in the German political context, the author demonstrates the possibility and potential in using a combined method to analyze contextualized absence of speech, drawing insights from discourse analysis and pragmatic approaches. This book also deals critically with such significant issues as ritual and political action, thus offering valuable insights to the general theoretical debate on political discourse.