The Outer And The Inner:the Feminist Narrative In Orlando:a Biography

This thesis, through the analysis of Virginia Woolf s Orlando:A Biography from the perspective of Feminist Narratology, attempts to explore Woolf’s feminist ideology implied in the discourse, the time-space design and the strategy of sexual ization.In the late1990s, Narratology underwent a transition from a closed text-centered formal approach to a more open contextual and formal approach. As a branch of Narratology, Feminist Narratology integrates Feminist Criticism with Narratology in order to explore the implied ideology, especially gender consciousness in the narrative text.As the medium of ideology and an essential concept in Narratology, discourse is the starting-point of this study. Focalization and voice, being two important elements of discourse, have long been reinforced by narratologists as well as feminist narratologists. Focalization and voice in Orlando:A Biography reflect Virginia Woolf’s feminist ideology.The design of time and space in the novel also displays Woolf’s feminist consciousness. Regarding the time design, the juxtaposition of the "clock time" and the "time in the mind" constructs a new kind of narrative structure by breaking up the traditional linear passage of time. As to the space design, London implies masculine fixity, while Constantinople symbolizes the fusion of feminine fluidity and masculine fixity.Woolf’s strategy of sexualization in the novel embodies her feminist gender politics. Woolf intentionally sexualizes some characters, the event cross-dressing, and some specific images, such as water and The Oak Tree, making them the fusion of masculinity and femininity, namely, androgyny.To sum up, this thesis, through a comprehensive examination of Woolf’s Orlando:A Biography by the method of combining Narratology and Feminist Criticism, intends to explore the interactive relationship between form (the narrative techniques and strategy) and content (the feminist ideology). The author hopes that this thesis will make a significant contribution to filling the gap between the research on Woolf’s narrative techniques and that on her feminist ideology.