Kobieta bez głosu. O powieści Christiny Dalcher „Vox”
A woman without a voice. On „Vox” by Christina Dalcher

Author(s): Małgorzata Kita
Subject(s): Language studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Communication studies, Western Slavic Languages, Philology, Stylistics, American Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: stylistics; feminism; dystopia; atrophy of communication; Christina Dalcher
Summary/Abstract: The subject of the study is Vox (2018; Polish translation – 2019), the debut novel of Christina Dalcher, an American writer and linguist. The author presents the issues of interpersonal communication in a world in which some members of society (women) of a certain country have been allotted a daily word limit of 100 words. The novel concerns the problem of marginalization of a particular social group – determined by the criterion of biological sex – which confines them to the sphere of home, ultimately forcing women to withdraw from the public life. At the same time it touches upon a fundamental human characteristic: language and communication, which facilitate the creation of bonds in human societies. However, the curtailment of speech for one group has consequences for the communication process of the non-silenced group which has retained complete freedom of speech as well; after all, communication requires interaction and cooperation of at least two parties. The advantage of one party leads to the disappearance/destruction of dialogue, to authoritarian monologue. The novel is referred to as a feminist dystopia, a political novel, a novel of the Donald Trump era, a novel of the #MeToo era, a socially engaged, activist novel, a novel of manners, a linguistic thriller, a medical thriller. Each of these genological expressions directs the reading of Vox differently. Regardless of the readings, however, the novel remains a story about the premeditated atrophy of interpersonal communication.

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