In the direction of prose: Virginia Woolf and the question of poetry

“In the direction of prose: Virginia Woolf and the question of poetry”. Aim of the dissertation is to investigate the role of poetry and its forms in Virginia Woolf’s prose (novels and essays). The main argument is that Woolf’s novels are not – as they are usually considered – an example of lyrical prose, but rather, that they “cannibalize” poetry in a new kind of prose. The investigation is carried out on the one side on a literary-historical level, dealing mainly with Woolf’s critical essays centered on the prose-poetry relationship; on the other side on a literary-linguistic level, postulating a link between Woolf’s exploitation of style indirect libre and poetry. The last chapter is dedicated to the fictionalization of poetry, poetry reading and poets characters. Chapters: Introduction; 1- Virginia Woolf and poetry: framing the problem; 2- “A Fine Old Potentate”: Poetry in Virginia Woolf’s Essays; 3- The Indirections of Poetry: style indirect libre and Virginia Woolf’s “lyrics of prose”; 4- Fictionalizing Poetry; Conclusions; Appendix of examples containing for; Figures; Bibliography.