ПРОБЛЕМ ЋУТАЊА У ЕСЕЈУ ВЕЛИКА ЈЕ СТВАР ЋУТАЊЕ ИСИДОРЕ СЕКУЛИЋ
THE PROBLEM OF SILENCE IN THE ESSAY SILENCE MATTERS BY ISIDORA SEKULIĆ

Summary/Abstract: This paper discusses the problem of silence in Isidora Sekulić’s article Silence Matters published in the newspaper Politika in 1938, as well as in the essay of the same title written in 1945. This paper points out that the author prefers silenceas opposed to speaking, although silence is always defined in relation to speech. The fact that the author’s opinions regarding both silence and speech are quite modern and similar to contemporary considerations on this problem is also pointed out. She also mentions what she calls transitional time, a feature of both garrulity and speaking, where she criticises the excessiveness and lack of restraint in speaking. I. Sekulić was quite aware of the direction the society was going, almost as if she were able to see, back in the thirties of the twentieth century, the modern tendencies of the media taking primacy, with specific emphasis on constant speaking and everyday exposure to it, where the fine line between public and private existence becomes not only displaced but also slowly disappears. According to this author, silence is mysterious, much like a dream, but even more mysterious than it. Being aware of the multiplicity of meanings when it comes to silence, I. Sekulić makes a distinction between deep and shallow silence, where the deep variant is where all meaning lies. In the opinion of this author, speaking places certain limitations upon a person, while silence is limitless and unchangeable. While she sees speech as earthly, deep silence is seen as something cosmic and universal. She points to the human need for silence, and considering that she was known as the apostle of loneliness, it is hardly surprising that she identifies “deep silence” and “profound loneliness” as the two of most important spiritual values in life. At the very end of the essay, as well as throughout it, this author emphasises her preference for silence. Silence is the ultimate source of a great number of her texts and essays. In this paper, the essays by I. Sekulić are compared primarily with the deliberations of Zorica Tomić, the author of The Book of Silence, as well as with the deliberations of other authors.

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