IN PURSUIT OF A “WOMAN‘S SENTENCE” (LITERARY INITIATIVES OF VIRGINIA WOOLF)
IN PURSUIT OF A “WOMAN‘S SENTENCE” (LITERARY INITIATIVES OF VIRGINIA WOOLF)

Summary/Abstract: The phenomenon of the “woman’s sentence”, or “woman’s language/writing” is one of the main themes found in contemporary feminist literary theory. The essay writing of Virginia Woolf, the renowned English novelist, essayist and significant representative of the first wave of feminism, reflected these themes. Woolf searched for an authentic “woman’s language” in her writings; thereby, reaching for—inter alia—the phenomenon of silence. Some female representatives of contemporary feminist literary theory regard this as one of the characteristic signs of “woman’s writing”. The author of this paper explores how Woolf incorporated this phenomenon into her writings, seeing in it not only a theme but also a means of creating style and meaning. The ways in which Woolf uses the phenomenon of silence in her texts offer stimuli for thinking not only about the specific features of “woman’s writing” as studied in feminist literary theory, but they are also challenging from the perspective of feminist epistemology and ethics.

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