Vol. 55 (2026)

Cultural Studies

Silence as Structural Presence: A Theoretical Exploration of Ivan Ikićʹs Film “Oaza” [Oasis] within a Cinematic Framing of Noam Chomsky’s Minimalist Program

Published:

2026-07-06

https://doi.org/10.31034/055.2026.08

Author

Edit Jakab

Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Budapest, Hungary

Keywords

Minimalist Program Noam Chomsky generative syntax minimalist cinematic language PF/LF interface viewer’s interpretation trace copy empty places silence structural presence Ivan Ikić

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Copyright (c) 2026 Slavica

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Jakab, E. (2026). Silence as Structural Presence: A Theoretical Exploration of Ivan Ikićʹs Film “Oaza” [Oasis] within a Cinematic Framing of Noam Chomsky’s Minimalist Program. Slavica, 55. https://doi.org/10.31034/055.2026.08

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Abstract

This study proposes a formal-analytical reading of Ivan Ikić’s Oaza [Oasis] (2020) within an interdisciplinary framework combining film theory and Noam Chomsky’s Minimalist Program. Drawing on core Minimalist concepts – such as the distinction between Phonological Form (PF) and Logical Form (LF), economy of derivation, and the copy theory of movement – the article argues that cinematic silence in Oaza is not absence, but a structurally licensed form of non-externalization. In this sense, silence functions analogously to syntactic traces: elements that lack phonological realization yet remain interpretively active. Focusing on the interrogation scene and the final sequence of the film, the analysis demonstrates how the suspension of speech and the restriction of expressive means shift interpretive responsibility onto the viewer. Meaning emerges not through explicit articulation, but through structured absence and constrained access. The film thus operates as a derivational system in which omission is not a deficit but a condition of interpretation, governed by principles of economy and interface interaction.

References

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