ABSTRACT
Encounters between migrants and public institutions in the host countries enact structural asymmetries within the very communicational contexts of interaction (Delory-Momberger, 2012; Giordano, 2008; Laacher, 2007; Portes, 2011). In such contexts, language and intercultural communication often slip into silences permeated by significant historical meaning which have been thoroughly addressed in scientific literature (anthropology, linguistics, cultural psychiatry and subaltern studies) film (documentary and fiction) and literary studies (comparative literature and feminist theories). Drawing from an ethnographic work in a migrant consultation at a psychiatric hospital in Portugal, this paper reflects upon the various analytical dimensions of silences and silencing in contexts marked by asymmetries between the interlocutors. Inspired by Jaworski’s work, we consider it more productive to view silence not as the opposition to speech, but rather see both silence and speech as integral parts of communication (Jaworski, 1993). Silence is here understood as the non-enunciation of subjectivity before prevalent forms of power. However, we are interested in uncovering the symbolic potential this silence may imply. In our particular research these forms of power are embodied in the relations between doctors and migrant patients in clinical settings, between men and women, and between researchers and the researched. All the above reflect the larger structural inequalities that involve migrants, citizens and institutional experts.
