Le silence et la montagne: la suggestion d’un entre-deux

Abstract

This paper analyses the in-between dimension characterizing silence. The first part describes, in the literary tradition, a set of oppositions (ethical vs aesthetic values; positive vs negative axiology; feeling of presence vs absence) in relation to which silence represents a threshold space. The second part focuses on two accounts of mountain ascents : Albert Camus’ Le vent à Djémila and Peter Handke’s La leçon de la Sainte-Victoire. The analysis highlights the function of silence as an interstitial tissue in the semantic, narrative and rhetorical construction of both works. In particular, the creative role of silence in writing is pointed out.