Provérbio e música como práticas discursivas: tocando a questão do silêncio

Abstract

In this study, we sought to analyse the relationship between the proverb Quem cala consente and the song Cálice by Chico Buarque, with a view to the relationship that is established between these two discursive materialities and the notion of silence, through the linguistic and symbolic functioning of the verb calar. We affiliated ourselves with materialist discourse analysis to answer the following research question: “How is silence put into operation in relation to silence, based on the proverb Quem cala consente and the sonority produced by the title of the song Cálice?”. Methodologically, we first looked at the proverb as a discursive practice that functions in different conditions of discourse production; then we looked at the song, from which we cut out discursive sequences in which silence appears. Our findings indicate that to remain silent, in the proverb, is not always to consent; and in the song, silence, through the expression Cálice (Chalice), replacing Cale-se! (Shut up!), an imperative imposed by the Brazilian military dictatorship, is resistance, a way of not remaining silent in the face of local silence (Orlandi, 2007).