Metonymy holds several epistemological implications which involve not only the relation between subject and language, but also the subject’s position in the process which structures both his perception and his knowledge. Jakobson’s definition of metonymy as based on contiguity, as well as Lacan’s post-structuralist emphasis on the displacement and the deference of meanings arising from syntagmatic language, prove how this trope is capable of portraying the “abundance” (of perception, of stimuli, of images, and, metaphorically, of meanings) which characterize the experience of modern man. Woolf’s use of metonymy in Mrs. Dalloway, reveals her stratified and multi-levelled approach to the city, conceived by her not only as a theme, but also as a dynamic space which mirrors the a-linear and ever-moving nature of the subject’s consciousness, and as a powerful inspiration for new narrative techniques. On the one hand, the stylistic features of Woolf’s representation of the city hint to the chaotic accumulation and to the perpetually dynamic quality (“an incessant shower of atoms”) characterizing the modern city; on the other hand, this same elements can be temporarily crystallized into a form of stability (“something central which permeated”) which allows the subject to arrest the chronological flowing of time. In my paper, I therefore intend to shed light on Woolf’s use of metonymy in Mrs. Dalloway, by underlining those stylistic and narrative elements which unveil how her figural language succeeds in re-creating the sense of “deterritorialization” (Deleuze) and the “constellation of meanings” (Benjamin) experienced by the subject in the modern city.

'And myriads of things merged in one thing': metonymy, accumulation and displacement in Mrs. Dalloway"

PRUDENTE, Teresa
2009-01-01

Abstract

Metonymy holds several epistemological implications which involve not only the relation between subject and language, but also the subject’s position in the process which structures both his perception and his knowledge. Jakobson’s definition of metonymy as based on contiguity, as well as Lacan’s post-structuralist emphasis on the displacement and the deference of meanings arising from syntagmatic language, prove how this trope is capable of portraying the “abundance” (of perception, of stimuli, of images, and, metaphorically, of meanings) which characterize the experience of modern man. Woolf’s use of metonymy in Mrs. Dalloway, reveals her stratified and multi-levelled approach to the city, conceived by her not only as a theme, but also as a dynamic space which mirrors the a-linear and ever-moving nature of the subject’s consciousness, and as a powerful inspiration for new narrative techniques. On the one hand, the stylistic features of Woolf’s representation of the city hint to the chaotic accumulation and to the perpetually dynamic quality (“an incessant shower of atoms”) characterizing the modern city; on the other hand, this same elements can be temporarily crystallized into a form of stability (“something central which permeated”) which allows the subject to arrest the chronological flowing of time. In my paper, I therefore intend to shed light on Woolf’s use of metonymy in Mrs. Dalloway, by underlining those stylistic and narrative elements which unveil how her figural language succeeds in re-creating the sense of “deterritorialization” (Deleuze) and the “constellation of meanings” (Benjamin) experienced by the subject in the modern city.
2009
Teresa Prudente
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/69773
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