MerryChristmas!, Macherey

Macherey reveals a new dynamic to the reader, the idea that there is another side to text and language than the explicit presence of the text or words. He correlates this idea to Freud's idea of the unconscious and the possibility that there is much more than what is spoken because language limits our abilities to fully express ourselves. While I read about the explicit vs. the implicit as well as the spoken vs. the unspoken, a form of media that is both spoken and written came to mind. This form of media is Ben Harper's song, Amen Omen. The song implies that someone very close to him has passed away, that he never got to say goodbye, and that he hopes to one day see that person again. The lyrics that came to mind are,

"I listen to a whisper slowly drift away,
silence is the loudest parting word you never say,
I put your world into my veins,
Now a voiceless sympathy is all that remains."

These lyrics are really deep, however, Macherey's ideas reflect Ben Harpers. Although the person does not speak because they are no longer with us, Ben Harper describes silence as being loud. He also says that there is a voiceless sympathy. These statements may be oxymorons, but they are complimentary according to Macherey. In his text, "A Theory of Literary Production", he says "this silence gives it life" and that "silences shape all speech". You may ask, how can silence give something life? How does silence shape all speech? Without silence, our words would be insignificant. That is what Macherey and Ben Harper are trying to show. Although the person who Ben Harper is singing about was silent, Ben Harper is always going to think about what could have been said if they were alive. That is why silence is "the loudest parting word you never say". Saying goodbye before one dies closes the door for that persons life and gives closure to the relationship. However, Ben Harper never got that comfortable good-bye. Instead the silence rings in his ears. Macherey and Ben Harper try to show the reader or the listener how significant silence is to our lives and without its presence, words are not significant.