Il silenzio dei colpevoli. Vivisezione e discorso animalista

The animal rights discourse against vivisection frames silence on two fronts: there is the silence imposed on animals to prevent their suffering from being heard, and the silence that hides the cruel practices of laboratories from the public. This paper analyzes the discursive devices that shape this dynamic, focusing on the construction of the communicative pact of disclosure and the organization of knowledge transmission. The corpus includes materials distributed by Italian animal rights organizations (LAV, LIMAV, Movimento Antispecista, Le.A.L.), such as videos, statements, campaigns, and an excerpt from Curzio Malaparte’s La pelle. The aim is to examine how the animal rights discourse constructs and supports the veridiction effect related to disclosure and denunciation of vivisection practices.