The phrase "absence rather than" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to express a preference for the lack of something over its presence or existence.
Example: "She chose to embrace absence rather than the chaos of a toxic relationship."
Alternatives: "lack instead of" or "nonexistence rather than".
On the whole, however, what is conveyed is an impression of absence rather than presence.
One sexless night follows another, slowly merging into a lifetime of absence rather than abundance.
The lights merely signified the absence, rather than the presence, of colorful news.
He wasn't used to a woman who chose to define herself by her absence rather than her presence.
At least publicly, the Knicks have accepted Rose's apology, merely fining him for his unexcused absence rather than suspending him.
For purposes of this paragraph the defense must go directly to the substantive issue of absence rather than to procedures, technicalities or formalities.
There are lots of kinds of singing I can't do and I suppose I register those as absences rather than failings.
For me, if "evil" is to have any meaning, and I believe that that remains a moot point, it has to reflect absences rather than anything which is tangible and positive.
Ms. Vendler acutely observes that the deaths of Mr. Heaney's mother in 1984 and his father in 1986 "caused a tear in the fabric of Heaney's verse," and the poems in "The Haw Lantern" (1987) tend to focus on absences, rather than presences, on virtual, metaphorical and metaphysical questions rather than material realities.
This highlights the importance of evaluating interventions with respect to these two aspects of sickness absences rather than focusing solely on whether or not a worker returns to work.
One of the things I really respected and dug about your book was its refusal of an overly simple vision of emotion: Elyria is often questioning her feelings -- or noting their absence -- rather than experiencing them in a straightforward way.
