Silence can be a communicative act. Tanesini (2018) demonstrates how “eloquent” silences can virtuously indicate resistance and dissent; in this paper, I outline one way silence can also be used viciously to cause discursive harm, specifically by slurring victims. By distinguishing between eloquent and “signaling” silences (two kinds of what I call “performative” silences), I show how “slurring” silences — fully quiet discursive moves that signal one's commitment to a slurring perspective — function in a manner that illuminates the pragmatic topography of conversational silence in general.

中文翻译：

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 含糊不清的沉默


沉默可以是一种交流行为。 Tanesini（2018）展示了“雄辩的”沉默如何有效地表明抵抗和异议；在本文中，我概述了一种可以恶意利用沉默造成话语伤害的方式，特别是通过诽谤受害者。通过区分雄辩的沉默和“信号性”沉默（我称之为“表演性”沉默的两种），我展示了“含糊不清”的沉默——完全安静的话语动作，表明一个人致力于含糊不清的观点——如何以一种阐明一般会话沉默的语用地形。