Forms and functions of nature representation in Virginia Woolf´s novels: symbols, metaphors and other modes

Abstract

The primary purpose of this dissertation was to investigate some of Virginia Woolf´s narratives in order to highlight a global concept of nature in these works. The secondary purpose was to analyze symbolical meanings of nature images in the narratives, single out main nature metaphors in them and consider their peculiarities. For this purpose, four groups of nature images in the narratives were roughly distinguished, namely symbolical images corresponding to fire (e.g., the sun), corresponding to the air (e.g., birds), corresponding to water (e.g., waves) and corresponding to the earth (e.g., trees). Using a metaphorical analysis procedure, the following conceptual nature metaphors were distinguished: LIFE IS WATER, TIME IS WATER, MIND IS A WATER ELEMENT, EMOTIONS ARE LIQUIDS, PEOPLE ARE PLANTS, PEOPLE ARE ANIMALS, PEOPLE ARE BIRDS, LIFE IS LIGHT, etc. The analysis of nature images revealed that they are often ambiguous and have archetypical symbolical meanings. The latter often include the dichotomies: life/death, temporality/eternity, reason/feeling and male/female. The nature metaphors allow us to deepen our understanding of the themes and motifs in the narratives through analogies based on the experience of nature in our lives. An important part of the dissertation was to distinguish the functions of the nature metaphors and representation of nature. It was found out that the representation of nature in Virginia Woolf´s narratives, along with its decorative function, has many other functions, including the function of aestheticizing, poeticizing, foregrounding and backgrounding of certain subjects and motifs, a commentary on narrative subjects, emotional and emphatic functions, etc. The dissertation is supposed to benefit both current and future Woolf research.