Womanhood and authorship discussed in the footsteps of Virginia Woolf

An event titled “Living by Writing, Writing by Living: Virginia Woolf and Her Essays” was organized by the Üsküdar University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Solution-Oriented Women's Issues Application and Research Center (ÜSÇÖZÜM), and the Translation Club, operating under the Department of Health, Culture and Sports (SKS), within the scope of March 8 International Women's Day. The event discussed the legacy of Virginia Woolf, a beloved figure of modern literature, on womanhood, authorship, and experience. It was emphasized that Woolf was not merely a writer but a guide appealing to every era.

Prof. Mine Özyurt Kılıç, a faculty member at Ankara Social Sciences University, participated as a guest in the program held at the Üsküdar University South Campus Fuat Sezgin Conference Hall, while Asst. Prof. Melda Enginsu from the Department of English Translation and Interpreting, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, undertook the moderation.

At the event, organized under the coordination of ÜSÇÖZÜM Director Prof. Feride Zeynep Güder, gender roles and the patriarchal perspective in the literary world were discussed through Woolf's essays.

Prof. Mine Özyurt Kılıç: “She would mostly talk about peace and the power of words”

Describing Virginia Woolf's stance in the academic and literary fields, Prof. Mine Özyurt Kılıç, a faculty member at Ankara Social Sciences University, emphasized that the author was a mentor of thought not only with her novels but also with nearly 600 essays.

Kılıç; “Virginia Woolf, when asking ‘Why don't you have a Shakespeare?’, describes how women are divided between the kitchen and the writing desk. After I became a professor, I decided to open a Virginia Woolf course because that 16-year-old girl jumped within me. My students, while reading Woolf, saw that she was a human genius beyond being a woman or a man. Woolf waged war with a fiery sword against the rigid biographical understanding represented by her father, that is, the patriarchal legacy that says ‘Born on this date, died on this date.’ She sees the essay as the genre that most directly describes human beings to each other and stands guard at the door to protect this genre from bad writers. If she were alive today, she would write about Gaza, she would address the women in Iran. Most of all, she would speak about peace and the power of words. She taught us that life is not just the street lamps, but the halo those lamps emit. If we can see that halo, it means we are truly alive.” she said.

Prof. Feride Zeynep Güder: “She teaches us to slow down in the fast-paced era of the 21st century”

Prof. Feride Zeynep Güder, ÜSÇÖZÜM Director and coordinator of the event, explained how Woolf, as an essayist, captured every moment of life. Güder said; “We must remember how well Woolf reflected her experiences in writing. Woolf, an essayist who broke taboos like Montaigne, narrates everything—a play she attended, a novel draft in her mind, or what people do when they wake up... She is not just a writer figure but like a guide on how a person thinks. In moments when we feel lonely and think ‘I think this way, but what are others doing?’, Woolf appears. Especially texts like ‘Three Guineas’ are works that should be re-read repeatedly today, in terms of describing how one thinks in the midst of war. Her guidance teaches us to slow down and focus our attention on one point in the fast-paced era of the 21st century.”

Asst. Prof. Melda Enginsu: “Virginia Woolf gives women the power to say ‘I exist too’”

Asst. Prof. Melda Enginsu from the Department of English Translation and Interpreting, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, who addressed the roadmap Virginia Woolf drew for women at the event, stated that one does not need to be a researcher to connect with Woolf. Enginsu said; “Virginia Woolf leaves a legacy and draws a roadmap for those who come after her. Women inspired by this guidance gain the power to say ‘I exist too!’ in life. Today, we discuss what happens when women enter parliament, but we might see its impact perhaps 100 years later. Woolf wrote in the 19th century, and we are still talking about this in the 21st century. We have before us a writer who, simply disturbed by the belittling of women’s labor, says ‘Wait a minute, someone needs to do this, and I am doing it.’ We also discuss with our students that the transformation into a servant with that female identity upon returning home still exists. Society exerts pressure even on women who have assistants, saying ‘She cannot look after her child, she cannot cook.’ This system, driven by these roles, negatively affects women greatly after a certain age.”

The event concluded after students' questions were answered, and certificates of appreciation were presented to Prof. Mine Özyurt Kılıç and Asst. Prof. Melda Enginsu, followed by a group photo.