idea manufacturer, general director of the dream factory
Some questions about speechlessness
Do we have a common language in this world?
Are foreigners “speech-impaired”?
Does language have a color?
How do people behave who cannot articulate their problems?
(aggression, inner withdrawal, suicide, artistic activity, ...)
How do children learn their mother's language?
Preserving the voice: phonograph, records, tapes, CDs
Transmitting the voice: telephone, radio, TV
Amplifying the voice: loudspeaker, hearing aid, microphone
Do all these things carry the warmth, the security, the anger, the sounds and the screams of the voice?
Why do nosy neighbors and the state's secret services want to eavesdrop on us?
Why are voices suppressed in an authoritarian regime?
Is this a social speech impediment?
Why can't we hear anything when flowers talk to each other?
What language will deaf-mute people and babies that we leave behind on a deserted island speak after five generations?
Is every deaf person also mute?
Is every mute person also deaf?
Is death the last door to silence?
Why don't insulted people talk to each other?
Is that a punishment?
Who does a man sentenced to life in solitary confinement talk to?
Can walls speak and hear us?
Who has listened to you the longest so far?
Who have you listened to the longest so far?
Have you tried to communicate with a deaf-mute person?
Or with a "foreigner" that you don't understand?
Have you had problems in a foreign country without knowing the language?
Have you ever started to stutter?
Have you hurt someone with words?
Have you ever lost your ability to speak?
Are you too tight-lipped?
Or has anyone ever silenced you?
Do you know the saying: “The devil take that blaspheming tongue”?
Does the tongue have bones?
Did you know that in a feudal society a young girl forced into marriage remained silent until her death?
Does language have a gender?
Do sweet words lure snakes out of their hiding places?
Do you know how happy life can be in a country with mute politicians?
Hüseyin ISIK, VIENNA 1997