The presence and value of silence in A Paga, by Miguel Torga

Abstract

This article proposes to recognize the presence and value of silence in the short story À paga by the Portuguese writer and poet Miguel Torga (1907-1995), featured in the book Contos da Montanha, first published in 1941. Silence plays a fundamental role in literary discourse, as well as words, as the two are inseparable. Our objective is to analyze the manifestations of silence, based on a study of the elements of the narrative of the short story in question. It is in a quick way that this genre conveys a main idea, and we recognize that this aspect is of fundamental importance for us to understand how – through saying and not saying – this type of short narrative can propose a deep reflection on themes for which silence (the unsaid) is fundamental. To this end, it is necessary to have a foundation on the Lyric Novel, a review of elements of the narrative, a study on the concept of silence and a reflection on its value in relation to the production of meanings in the theoretical perspective of Eni Orlandi (2007), seeking to understand silence as a condition for a greater approximation to the thought and work of the writer.