French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Corbin, Une histoire du silence. De la Renaissance à nos jours
History, Politics and Society

Une histoire du silence - De la Renaissance à nos jours
Alain Corbin

Publication date: 30/03/2016 Publisher: Albin Michel (Editions) ISBN: 978-2-226-32378-1 EAN: 9782226323781 Format: Paperback No. of pages: 210 p.

Silence is not merely the absence of noise. It resides within us, within that inner citadel which great writers, thinkers, scholars, and women and men of faith have cultivated over the centuries. At a time when noise invades every space, Alain Corbin revisits the history of an era when speech was rare and precious. A prerequisite for recollection, reverie, and prayer, silence is the intimate space from which words emerge.

Monks have devised a thousand techniques to exalt it, culminating in the Carthusian monks who live in total silence. Philosophers and novelists have shown how nature and the world are far from being vain distractions. Yet, around the 1950s, a profound break occurred, and silence lost its educational value. The hyper-mediatization of the 21st century compels us to be part of the collective whole rather than attuned to ourselves, thereby altering the very structure of the individual.

Rediscovering the school of silence is the challenge set by this book, in which every quotation is an invitation to meditation and self-reflection. With that penchant for the elusive that has produced his greatest works (such as The Foul and the Fragrant and Village Bells), Alain Corbin invites us to listen to another kind of History.

Alain Corbin is a distinguished French historian renowned for his pioneering work in the history of the senses, emotions, and everyday life. Rooted in the traditions of the Annales School, his scholarship often examines sensory phenomena that leave few traces in traditional archives, such as odors, sounds, and quietude. In this volume, he turns his attention to the cultural and spiritual dimensions of quietness from the Renaissance to the contemporary era, tracing how human beings have engaged with stillness across different historical epochs.

This accessible historical essay will appeal to readers interested in cultural history, philosophy, and the humanities, offering valuable perspective on modern noise pollution and the erosion of inner life. By examining the monastic traditions of silence, the contemplation of nature, and the mid-twentieth-century rupture caused by mass media, Corbin provides a thoughtful framework for understanding the psychological transformations of the individual in modern society. It serves as a timely invitation to reflect on the necessity of solitude in a hyper-mediated world.