Come out only when I summon you! For a Queer Linguistic Methodology of  Absence in null curricula

Sonia Maria Melchiorre

doi:10.55804/ETAGTSU.2346-8149.2026.13

Authors

Sonia Maria Melchiorre University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5766-7963

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55804/ETAGTSU.2346-8149.2026.13

Keywords:

null curriculum, Queer Linguistics, telecinematic discourse, pragmatics of absence, linguistic sanitization

Abstract

Adopting a transdisciplinary approach, this study investigates the “null curriculum” through the pragmatics of negation and absence. Situating the research within a Queer Linguistic (QL) framework, the author recontextualises the curriculum as a discourse domain in which “null” elements function as zero-signs. Drawing on Elliot Eisner’s (Eisner 1979) seminal theory, the study argues that silence in education is a deliberate form of speech and that the perspectives and lexemes omitted from the classroom are as foundational to a student’s development as the explicit content provided. Central to this analysis is Melchiorre’s “spare me the word” strategy (Melchiorre, 2022), which, in this account, is framed as a linguistic sanitisation that bypasses queer terminology to maintain a facade of inclusivity. By applying Speech Act Theory (SAT), I treat these communicative voids as perlocutionary acts that perform epistemological erasure, arguing that such systematic omissions are not neutral gaps but institutional tools of control that reinforce the gender binary. In my final remarks, I conclude that such a discursive absence culminates in “emotional segregation” (Beeman, 2007), creating an educational landscape that denies queer individuals the linguistic mirrors necessary to articulate their lived experiences and thereby facilitating profound affective alienation.

Author Biography

Sonia Maria Melchiorre, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy

Sonia Maria Melchiorre is Associate Professor at the University of Tuscia at the Department of Juridical, Social and Pedagogical Studies (DIKE). Her academic background is rooted in English Literature and Linguistics, has earned her Ph.D. from the University of Tuscia and studied at the University of East Anglia and Glasgow University. Her research focuses on English linguistics, media studies, and gender theory. She specifically examines the representation of women and LGBT+ identities in contemporary media. Beyond her research, she is the President of the CUG (the Guarantee Committee for Equal Opportunities, Employee Wellbeing and Non-Discrimination at Work and referent person for the Gender Equality Plan 2026-2029. She also directs the international book series ENDERISING: Redesigning Gender. Her published work spans from 18th-century British women writers to the linguistic nuances of dialogue in modern television.

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