The main aim of the present paper is to describe and analyse forms and functions of absences (or ‘blanks’) in chains of signifiers in nineteenth-century English literature, particularly prose fiction. The theoretical framework is built on the theory of reception: the writings of Ingarden and Iser, but primarily the typology of blanks in signifying systems drawn up by Wolf (2005). In this paper, absences are defined as intentional, salient gaps in chains of typical (expected) signifiers (i.e. as a discursive feature rather than one occurring on the story level); they are thus conceived of as part of the implied author’s writing process and support for the primary or secondary theme(s) and meaning of a text. Relishing the experimental nature of their texts, some nineteenth-century authors used blanks as a metafictional tool for describing various topics, as well as a technique mimetic of psychological processes. Lewis Carroll’s Alice novels provide relevant examples of using blanks to add a visual dimension to the written text, thus enhancing their multimodal quality.