Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Fragments of a Writer’s Mind: Virginia Woolf in Her Own Words

This thesis provides a thematic reading of select autobiographical and theoretical works by Virginia Woolf. It utilizes Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy of the rhizome as a methodological framework. The rhizome does not have a hierarchal structure but is rather interconnected. In the same way, the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zeitoun, Baheya
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2023
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613422831534080
access_status_str Open Access
author Zeitoun, Baheya
author_browse Zeitoun, Baheya
author_facet Zeitoun, Baheya
author_sort Zeitoun, Baheya
collection Thesis
description This thesis provides a thematic reading of select autobiographical and theoretical works by Virginia Woolf. It utilizes Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy of the rhizome as a methodological framework. The rhizome does not have a hierarchal structure but is rather interconnected. In the same way, the chapters interweave the multi-disciplinary theoretical approaches to connect the disparate factions of the modernist writer’s mind and life. The early twentieth century saw the rise of post-suffrage writers with narratives that diverged from male-centric values. Woolf is one of the writers who makes a clear distinction between male and female values by championing women’s experiences and struggles. She argues for female economic independence, through education and employment opportunities. In addition, she emphasizes the importance of female intellectual production to bridge the gap between men’s and women’s voices in history. The theme of mental health is discussed by analyzing Woolf’s fiction and non-fiction writings on the topic. Given her struggles with manic depressive disorder, known contemporarily as bipolar disorder (BD), she also serves as a case study for the condition and how it is linked to creativity. By following her writing style and feminist views on her society, light is shed on mental health struggles in the early twentieth century and compared to contemporary theories. As Woolf lived through a tumultuous period of British history, she witnessed the rise of the emotionally expressive modernist movement and became one of its most prominent literary figures. The movement utilized a literary device known as stream-of-consciousness writing; an approach to consciousness proposed by American psychologist William James. Thus, psychology and mental health were vital to her use of language and central to her written works, which provided insight into her psyche.
format Thesis
id oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3131
institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:54.296Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher AUC Knowledge Fountain
publisherStr AUC Knowledge Fountain
record_format dspace
source_str AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3131 Fragments of a Writer’s Mind: Virginia Woolf in Her Own Words Zeitoun, Baheya This thesis provides a thematic reading of select autobiographical and theoretical works by Virginia Woolf. It utilizes Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy of the rhizome as a methodological framework. The rhizome does not have a hierarchal structure but is rather interconnected. In the same way, the chapters interweave the multi-disciplinary theoretical approaches to connect the disparate factions of the modernist writer’s mind and life. The early twentieth century saw the rise of post-suffrage writers with narratives that diverged from male-centric values. Woolf is one of the writers who makes a clear distinction between male and female values by championing women’s experiences and struggles. She argues for female economic independence, through education and employment opportunities. In addition, she emphasizes the importance of female intellectual production to bridge the gap between men’s and women’s voices in history. The theme of mental health is discussed by analyzing Woolf’s fiction and non-fiction writings on the topic. Given her struggles with manic depressive disorder, known contemporarily as bipolar disorder (BD), she also serves as a case study for the condition and how it is linked to creativity. By following her writing style and feminist views on her society, light is shed on mental health struggles in the early twentieth century and compared to contemporary theories. As Woolf lived through a tumultuous period of British history, she witnessed the rise of the emotionally expressive modernist movement and became one of its most prominent literary figures. The movement utilized a literary device known as stream-of-consciousness writing; an approach to consciousness proposed by American psychologist William James. Thus, psychology and mental health were vital to her use of language and central to her written works, which provided insight into her psyche. 2023-06-21T07:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2093 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3131/viewcontent/Fragments_of_a_Writer_s_Mind___Virginia_Woolf_in_Her_Own_Words__Baheya_Zeitoun_.pdf Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Virginia Woolf Mental Health Bipolar Disorder Trauma Feminism Female Economic Empowerment Women’s Intellectual Production Modernism Stream of Consciousness Arts and Humanities Comparative Literature English Language and Literature
spellingShingle Virginia Woolf
Mental Health
Bipolar Disorder
Trauma
Feminism
Female Economic Empowerment
Women’s Intellectual Production
Modernism
Stream of Consciousness
Arts and Humanities
Comparative Literature
English Language and Literature
Zeitoun, Baheya
Fragments of a Writer’s Mind: Virginia Woolf in Her Own Words
title Fragments of a Writer’s Mind: Virginia Woolf in Her Own Words
title_full Fragments of a Writer’s Mind: Virginia Woolf in Her Own Words
title_fullStr Fragments of a Writer’s Mind: Virginia Woolf in Her Own Words
title_full_unstemmed Fragments of a Writer’s Mind: Virginia Woolf in Her Own Words
title_short Fragments of a Writer’s Mind: Virginia Woolf in Her Own Words
title_sort fragments of a writer s mind virginia woolf in her own words
topic Virginia Woolf
Mental Health
Bipolar Disorder
Trauma
Feminism
Female Economic Empowerment
Women’s Intellectual Production
Modernism
Stream of Consciousness
Arts and Humanities
Comparative Literature
English Language and Literature
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2093
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3131/viewcontent/Fragments_of_a_Writer_s_Mind___Virginia_Woolf_in_Her_Own_Words__Baheya_Zeitoun_.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT zeitounbaheya fragmentsofawritersmindvirginiawoolfinherownwords