LE THÉÂTRE DU SILENCE DE MAURICE MAETERLINCK

The article is examining the evolution of the aesthetic phenomenon of silence in literature and music, starting from the contrast of the word and the sound up to the point where they become the full expressive means of literary and musical text. The author analyzes the emergence of Maurice Maeterlinck's theatre of silence in the context of formed concept of French language omnipotence in poetry and theatre in the end of 19th century. Considerable part of the article is dedicated to the analysis of the infl uence that silence has to the language, which leads to the appearance of Maeterlinck's «poetic prose».