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<\/p>\nImagine winter. A big field in the countryside, covered with snow as far as the eye can see. A forest where every step is muffled by the reigning calm. The animals that hibernate or head south until the cold season is over. The city, asleep after a long storm. In all these images, a recurring theme: silence.<\/p>\n
Since winter invites and calls for silence, it\u2019s only natural that Daniel Chartier, a full professor at the Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Montr\u00e9al and the director of the Laboratoire international de recherche sur l\u2019imaginaire du Nord, de l\u2019hiver et de l\u2019Arctique, was led to study it during his career. He notes, after years of being interested in the peoples of the North, that if silence is part of our landscapes and our seasons, it has also settled at the heart of our language.<\/p>\n
Hello, Daniel. We think we know silence, but do we really know it?<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a technical perspective, silence\u2014true silence\u2014 would only be found in closed radio studios. It would be unbearable to live in such a complete absence of sound. We need resonance to find ourselves. Total silence would therefore be an objective and an illusion, because it\u2019s pretty anxiety-inducing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, what we call silence is an absence of violent sounds: the noise of machinery, something falling on the ground, a loud or disturbing repetitive sound. Silence can also be an excess of microsounds, like a river flowing through a forest, which is similar to silence. Several similar examples can be found in nature, such as the sound of a waterfall or the wind. We put these sounds in the category of what is quiet, even soothing. On the other hand, anything related to human intervention is often associated with noise.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, is there a clear link between nature and silence?<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely! And we\u2019re lucky, because we live in a wintry environment where nature is accessible. We have an extraordinary tool at our fingertips to achieve silence. The forest, among other settings, is known for being a place that is both closed and open at the same time\u2014an ecosystemthatinvadesus, envelops us, andcreatessilence. \u201cSeveral writers also talk about nature as something we penetrate, and which changes us forever. I really like the writer Marie Le Franc, a Breton who settled in Quebec in the 1930s. Upon arrival, she immediately headed to the Laurentians, fascinated by the forest. She had the impression that the lake only had one function: producing silence. As if we could produce absence or emptiness through natural elements.\u201d<\/p>\n
And what link do you make between culture and silence?<\/p>\n
\u201cSilence is a cultural construct, and it\u2019s also a language between people. The choice not to speak, the need to be in silence. Silence affects who we are and our relationship with others, but also our relationship with the environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cSilence is sometimes spoken of as a weapon of the people of the North. Unlike the people of the South, we\u2019re able to be much quieter, and that can create a destabilizing unease that \u2018protects\u2019 us, in a way. Being capable of not talking, providing simple answers, not immediately responding, tolerating silence in the presence of others\u2026 all this is specific to Nordic peoples. \u201cSilence is a richness of language, but it\u2019s much subtler than speech. Culturally, we must be able to grasp its nuances, that the relationship we have with others lends itself to it, and that everyone values it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Why is silence part of the language of the people of the North?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are several hypotheses. The passage of winter and the need for calm is one. Indeed, as we traditionally spend winter together in a house, we would go crazy if everyone had to speak all the time, at the same time. It would be a cacophony. You\u2019ve surely felt it: after a weekend at a cottage with friends, we\u2019re happy when Sunday arrives, and we can return to silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe quality of silence established by winter can also become addictive, which means that we seek it out all year round, and that silence settles into our language. Snow is an insulator against cold, but also against sound. When you go outside after a snowstorm, even in the city, you get the feeling that it\u2019s very quiet, but there are simply dozens of centimetres of insulation on the ground that absorb sound.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong the Scandinavians, there\u2019s also an ethic of walking in the forest. You never talk or raise your voice. To them, the forest is as sacred as a church. You enter, and a solemnity sets in. Someone who talks while skiing won\u2019t have understood anything. They can\u2019t control themselves. That\u2019s another aspect: self-control. This is a value that many peoples of the North consider important, and which involves the ability to speak with moderation, when it\u2019s appropriate to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong other peoples, such as the Finns, saying some- thing that others have already said in a conversation is considered poor form. This gives rise to somewhat limited, almost oppressive conversations. Here, we pick up other people\u2019s ideas; there\u2019s more freedom. We\u2019re a Nordic-Latin people, so yes, we like silence, but we also like to talk!\u201d<\/p>\n
What are the benefits of silence on the body, and on well-being in general?<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, one thing is certain: repetitive noise is violent for the body. This has been proven. For example, if there\u2019s a railway near you and you constantly hear trains going by, you\u2019ll end up forgetting the sound, but the body will continue to feel it and react to it in a negative way. Ideally, therefore, we would live in a quieter world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, as human beings, we need moments of contem- plation and calm. These days, spas are one of the places we can go to meditate, and at one time, this was done at churches instead. In my opinion, there\u2019s always a link between the body, silence, and peace of mind. These aren\u2019t three independent concepts. Their codependency also appears after a ski day, for example. The solace that can be observed is related at once to the physical exertion, to the calm felt, to the cold and the heat, and to the body, which has thought of something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
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In a daily life full of stimuli, have we lost sight of the importance of silence?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s true that our attention is very strained these days, sometimes even in silence. A phone can annoy us in ways other than its ringtone. The amount of information to which we have access and the perpetual sorting that we have to do to select and retain the most relevant information create fatigue in the body and mind. If we could expose ourselves to fewer stimuli, at least at certain times, that would do the greatest good.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen there\u2019s too much talking or too much information, we no longer distinguish what\u2019s around us. We have the impression that very simple things are becoming serious, and that\u2019s where we lose our judgement. Without emptiness, things take on a great deal of importance, whereas on the contrary, they no longer have any. Silence allows us to clear our minds.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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