V. 27 N. 1 (2026)
Artes

Words fail us: The crisis of language

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Alberto Castelli
Hainan University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59533/Verb.2026.27.1.1

Pubblicato 21-07-2026

Parole chiave

  • aesthetics,
  • language,
  • modernism,
  • postmodernism,
  • silence

Come citare

Castelli, A. (2026). Words fail us: The crisis of language. Verbum – Analecta Neolatina, 27(1), 7–32. https://doi.org/10.59533/Verb.2026.27.1.1

Copyright (c) 2026 Alberto Castelli

Creative Commons License

TQuesto lavoro è fornito con la licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale.

Abstract

Modernity has ushered in an increasing detachment from life; a divorce of sorts is taking place between the individual and the cultural context. Given certain thoughts and feelings, words fail us. It seems that we fail to communicate, to understand, to carve significance beyond the text. I write this manuscript as a feature of contemporary Zeitgeist, as a response to modern uncertainties about humanity. My belief is that the contract between language and reality is broken; thus, we lost our only hope to make contact with reality.

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