ABSTRACT
This chapter will synthesize previous discussions on language and art: both concepts will now dwell in this chapter, illuminated from several different angles. Also, dialogue is central to this book’s interpretive project: it will be in dialogue with Virginia Woolf’s novels, and dialogue is a principal thematic concern in these narratives as well. According to Gadamer, interpretation itself is defined by dialogue. In its entirety, dialogue is the source of language and art and meaning. Most importantly, dialogue is a critical concept because it necessarily transcends subjectivity: it does not belong to any of the participants-the result of any true dialogue is unexpected and surprising. The mutual world is the subject matter, up for debate, and this world is dynamic. This analysis of dialogue will prove useful, then, because it forms the basis of the movement inherent to one’s understanding of the world.
