Illuminating Inner Life : A Comparison of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse and Arthur Schnitzler's Fräulein Else

In the early 20th century, authors increasingly experimented with literary techniques striving towards two common aims: to illumine the inner life of their protagonists and to diverge from conventional forms of literary representations of reality. This shared endeavour was sparked by changes in society: industrialisation, developments in psychology, and the gradual decay of empires, such as the Victorian (1837–1901) and the Austro-Hungarian (1867–1918). Those developments yielded a sense of uncertainty and disorientation, which led to a so-called “turn [inwards]” in the arts (Micale 2). In this context, this essay examines Virginia Woolf’s (1882–1941) development of her literary technique by comparing To the Lighthouse (1927), written in free indirect discourse, with Arthur Schnitzler’s (1862–1932) Fräulein Else (1924), written in interior monologue. Instead of applying Freud’s theories of consciousness, I will demonstrate how empiricist psychology informed and partly helped shape the two narrative techniques by referring to Ernst Mach’s (1838–1916) idea of the unstable self, and William James’ (1842–1910) concept of the stream of consciousness. Furthermore, I will show that there is a continuous progression of literary ideas from Schnitzler’s Viennese fin-de-siècle connected to impressionism, towards Woolf’s Bloomsbury aesthetics connected to Paul Cézanne’s post-impressionist logic of sensations. In addition to that, I address how the women’s movement, starting in the end of the 19th century, inspired Woolf and Schnitzler to utilise their techniques as a means of revealing women’s restricted position in society. Methodologically, I will analyse the two novels’ narrative techniques applying close reading and by that point out their differences and similarities in connection to the above-mentioned theories as well as the two author’s literary approaches. I argue that this comparison demonstrates that modernist literary techniques of representing interiority evolved from interior monologue towards free indirect discourse. This progression also implicates that modernism can be seen as a continuum reaching back to the fin-de-siècle and culminating in the 1920s. 

40 years of the regional gender agenda

The first Regional Conference on the Integration of Women into the Economic and Social Development of Latin America and the Caribbean was held almost 40 years ago (Havana, 1977). It provided a regional forum for exchange after the World Conference of the International Women’s Year in Mexico City in 1975, where participants supported the idea of social demands for women’s rights and gender equality (which were starting to spread from country to country) being converted into government commitments. On that occasion they adopted the Regional Plan of Action for the Integration of Women into Latin American Economic and Social Development, the region’s first road map for progress towards the recognition of women’s contribution to society and the obstacles that they face in improving their situation. At that same conference, the Governments gave the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) a mandate to convene periodically, at intervals of no more than three years, a Regional Conference on Women. In fulfilment of this mandate, over the next four decades ECLAC organized 12 Regional Conferences on Women, first through its Women and Development Unit, then its Division for Gender Affairs. This interaction between governments, with the active participation of the women’s and feminist movement and the support of the entire United Nations system, has become the main forum for the negotiation of a broad, profound and comprehensive regional agenda on gender equality, in which women’s autonomy and rights are front and centre. Policies for development and overcoming poverty have always been a key focus at these meetings. This publication is a compilation of all the agreements adopted by the Governments at the regional conferences and will serve not only as a tool for reference, but above all as a tool for action and for building a future based on the collective memory of the women of Latin America and the Caribbean.

La Federación de Asociaciones Católicas de Empleadas frente al trabajo femenino (Argentina, 1922-1954)

Este artículo analiza la propuesta de la Federación de Asociaciones Católicas de Empleadas (FACE), institución liderada por Monseñor Miguel de Andrea, frente a la participación asalariada de las mujeres, desde sus orígenes hasta el enfrentamiento con el gobierno peronista. A partir del análisis de publicaciones periódicas, se sostiene que la FACE construyó una noción de excepcionalidad del trabajo femenino que legitimó las prácticas de inequidad laboral que padecían las mujeres, mientras que también ofreció una integración social a sus miembros a través de múltiples servicios sociales

Women and the Moral Politics of Dress in Twentieth Century Tehran

This research examines the politicization of women’s clothing under the Pahlavi monarchy and the Islamic Republican of Iran from the 1930s-1990s. I distinctively focus on the governments’ use of women’s clothing to define their idea of Iranian nationalism and how their sumptuary policies affected women’s lives. I assess the motives behind the sumptuary laws for each regime, and argue that both governments situated women as symbols of national health and honor, and used them as visualizations for the success of their platforms. Despite different interpretations of morality, my research suggests that both governments created these laws to “purify” their “corrupt” nation, using the same rhetoric. Paradoxically, this led to a sexualized culture that exists today in Tehran. I analyze a wealth of primary sources including women’s magazines, political cartoons, poetry, newspapers, extant clothing, photographs, legislation, autobiographies, speeches, passports, Revolutionary-era books written by Iranian intellectuals, and oral interviews that I conducted.

Interrogation of Gender Identity: Aesthetic Consumption of Korean Television Dramas by Young Women in China

Given the popularity of Korean television dramas among various age groups in other countries, one would expect to see a similar pattern of consumption across different ages in China. Instead, we see high levels of consumption of Korean dramas by a very specific demographic. Why do young Chinese females consume Korean dramas at such high levels? I argue that young Chinese women’s heavy consumption of Korean dramas that portray a particular aesthetic of self and familial resolution may be explained by a need to redress contemporary psychological issues related to gendered self-identity. I posit that the identity formation processes of this particular demographic has been shaped by changes in family dynamics that stem from social and political restructuring in the 1980s, particularly the one-child policy. Thus, this thesis explores how the consumption of Korean dramas by young females in China may be understood as an implicit interrogation of gendered identity.

Ambient Air Pollution and Lung Cancer Risk in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Factors associated with pregnant women's participation in a mHealth intervention in Timor-Leste

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Social Support Networks and Self-Efficacy of Peruvian Women Diagnosed with Cancer: A Biocultural Analysis of Health Behavior Constructs

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

CYP2D6 inherited variation and inhibiting medication use in relation to adverse breast cancer outcomes after tamoxifen therapy

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Hypertension and diabetes treatments and risk of adverse outcomes among breast cancer patients

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Preformations of the Amazonian: Strong Women in German Literature of the Early Enlightenment

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Cultivating Care: Understanding Intimate Partner Violence Experiences of Undocumented Latinas in Washington State

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Normal values of balance tests in women aged 20-80

OBJECTIVES: To determine normal values for four commonly used clinical functional balance tests from community-dwelling women aged 20 to 80 and to identify any significant decline due to aging. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was undertaken to provide normative values for four clinical balance tests across 6 decade cohorts. SETTING: The Betty Byrne-Henderson Center for Women and Aging, Royal Womens' Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred fifty-six community-dwelling, independently ambulant women with no obvious neurological or musculoskeletal-related disability, aged 20 to 80, were randomly recruited from a large metropolitan region. MEASUREMENTS: The clinical balance measures/tests were the Timed Up and Go test, step test, Functional Reach test, and lateral reach test. Multivariate analysis was used to test the effect for age, height, and activity level. RESULTS: Normal data were produced for each test across each decade cohort. Gradual decline in balance performance was confirmed, with significant effect for age demonstrated. CONCLUSION: New normative data across the adult age decades are available for these clinical tests. Use of clinical balance tests could complement other balance tests and be used to screen women aged 40 to 60 whose performance is outside the normal values for age and to decrease later falls risk.

The development of preferences for specific body shapes

Research with adults has shown a preference for average-weight female figures with waist-to-hip ratios (WHR) of 0.7, and average weight male figures with waist-to-hip ratios of 0.9. This study investigated the development of preferences for WHR sizes as well as preferences for specific body weights. Five-hundred eleven children ranging in age from 6 to 17 were presented with drawings of 12 male and 12 female silhouettes varying in weight and WHR and asked to select one they thought looked the nicest or most attractive. The youngest children showed preferences for the underweight figures, changing to consistent preferences for the average weight figures in the teenage years. The developmental curves for waist-to-hip ratio preferences were linear, changing gradually over time to become more adult-like. Potential developmental models for the development of preferences for specific body shapes are considered in relation to these data.