The Language And Silence Of Tillie Olsen

This thesis is a tentative study of the female language and silence in the writings of the American short story writer, Tillie Olsen. In the thesis, the relationship between women's silence and language is given a detailed analysis from a feminist perspective. It holds that under Olsen's pen, the relationship between language and silence is dialectical and developing.The first part of the thesis is an introduction of the silence that Olsen as a marginalized woman writer has suffered and her efforts to break it with her language. The second part analyses from a feminist perspective the female characters in Olsen's stories: "Tell Me a Riddle", "I Stand Here Ironing" and "0, Yes", and points out that the implications and functions of language and silence evolve with the consciousness of the characters. The next part follows with a brief review of the feminist theories on women's language and silence together with Olsen's relevant viewpoints represented in her book Silences. Then the thesis dwells on the language and narrative form to illustrate that women's silence can both be represented and simultaneously disrupted by the use of language. It concludes with Olsen's expectation of readers' participation in constructing her story. And it is expected that it can offer the reader a new angle and help him/her achieve a better understanding in appreciating women writers' work such as Tillie Olsen's.