LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 25:11 November 2025
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Pragmatics of Silence and Speech: A Linguistic Study of Female Agency in Anita Nair's Fiction

Dr. Ravindra Goswami

Abstract

This research paper explores the pragmatic dimensions of silence and speech as crucial mechanisms of female agency in the fiction of Anita Nair, with a particular focus on Ladies Coupé (2001) and Mistress (2005). Situated within the theoretical frameworks of linguistic pragmatics—especially Speech Act Theory, Grice's Cooperative Principle, and Politeness Theory—and informed by feminist linguistic criticism, the study investigates how women in Nair's narratives manipulate both silence and verbal expression as strategic communicative acts within patriarchal social structures. The analysis reveals that silence, often stereotypically associated with submission, becomes in Nair's fiction a powerful act of defiance, resistance, and self-preservation, while speech functions as a performative assertion of selfhood and liberation. Drawing upon insights from Austin (1962), Grice (1975), Lakoff (1975), and Mills (2003), the paper demonstrates how Nair's protagonists navigate the gendered politics of communication, transforming silence into meaningful discourse and discourse into instruments of autonomy. By interpreting female characters' linguistic choices through a pragmatic and feminist lens, this study argues that both silence and speech emerge as complementary, context-dependent strategies of empowerment. Ultimately, Nair's fiction redefines communication itself as a space of agency, where women reclaim power not merely by speaking, but also by choosing when—and how—to remain silent.

Keywords:Anita Nair, pragmatics, silence, speech acts, female agency, feminist linguistics, discourse analysis

Introduction

Language functions not merely as a vehicle of communication but as a social instrument that shapes identity, power, and gender relations. Within patriarchal societies, women's linguistic behavior—especially their patterns of speech and silence—has often been interpreted through stereotypical lenses of submission or emotional restraint (Lakoff, 1975; Tannen, 1990). However, recent feminist linguistic studies have reconceptualized silence as a potential site of resistance and agency (Mills, 2003). In this context, the fiction of Anita Nair, one of India's most perceptive contemporary writers, offers a rich terrain for exploring how silence and speech function as pragmatic tools through which women negotiate autonomy, power, and selfhood.

This paper focuses on Nair's Ladies Coupé (2001) and Mistress (2005), both of which foreground female protagonists who struggle to reclaim control over their voices in a gendered world. By examining the pragmatics of communication—the implied meanings, conversational implicatures, and strategic uses of politeness—the study seeks to uncover how linguistic acts within these narratives represent deeper social performances of female identity. Drawing upon Speech Act Theory (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969), Grice's Cooperative Principle (1975), and Politeness Theory (Brown & Levinson, 1987), the analysis interprets speech as performative action and silence as an equally potent communicative act.

In Ladies Coupé, Nair's protagonist Akhila's journey from imposed muteness to self-expression exemplifies the transformative power of linguistic agency. Similarly, in Mistress, Radha's use of silence becomes an introspective form of defiance that redefines emotional independence. Both narratives thus illustrate that speech and silence are not binary opposites but complementary strategies of empowerment, deeply rooted in cultural and interpersonal contexts. By situating Anita Nair's work within the intersection of linguistic pragmatics and feminist discourse analysis, this study aims to demonstrate that women's communicative choices in her fiction are conscious, context-sensitive acts of resistance. The paper argues that silence, far from indicating passivity, embodies a nuanced pragmatics of self-definition and agency.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Dr. Ravindra Goswami
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra
goswami.raaj23@gmail.com

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