Embodied Expression: Cognition, Technique, and Memory in the Art of the Silent Actor
Embodied Expression: Cognition, Technique, and Memory in the Art of the Silent Actor

Summary/Abstract: Silent acting occupies an unusual position in performance studies: it is at once historically bounded by early cinema and yet persistently relevant as a model for understanding embodied expression. This article examines the silent actor as a site where cognition, nonverbal communication, and artistic technique converge. Drawing from film history, cognitive science, and performance theory, the study argues that silent performance functions as a laboratory for analyzing how bodies generate meaning and emotion in the absence of speech. After outlining the historical evolution of silent acting and the diverse traditions that shaped it, the article incorporates research in embodied cognition and spectator theory to explore how viewers infer intention, affect, and narrative from physical behavior. Technical aspects of silent performance, like gesture, posture, rhythm, facial micro-expression, and the actor’s relationship to the camera, are examined in detail to reveal how silent actors crafted expressive precision. Contemporary applications are analyzed through examples from modern cinema, animation, and motion-capture performance, demonstrating the enduring relevance of silent-era principles. Case studies of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Asta Nielsen illustrate how individual actors developed distinctive expressive vocabularies grounded in bodily form. The article concludes by arguing that silent acting not only enriches film and performance scholarship but also contributes to ongoing scientific discussions about perception, empathy, and the embodied mind.

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