Virginia Woolf in the French Imagination

This book explores a wide array of literary productions authored by French-speaking writers in which Virginia Woolf appears as a biographical subject or a fictional character. The ensemble of bio/fictional narratives reveals how Woolf’s ideas and ideals resonate with French authors and common readers; they inform us about Woolf’s iconicity and the universal values she stood for, which mirror current literary, cultural and political concerns and debates in France. Based on a close examination of twenty-five works published between 1956 and 2023, and authored by writers with eclectic professional backgrounds, the book surveys various portraits of Woolf as a feminist, a troubled genius prone to bouts of madness, a gifted innovative writer carried by the flow of her creative process, a woman in love, a competitive sister, an overprotected wife, a delighted sightseer in France, and a tormented, suicidal figure. Woolf’s numerous representations as a character in French literature attest that she has acquired a reputation outside the English-speaking realm and has the capacity to adapt to other literary and cultural backgrounds. Her adoption by the French has proved to be mutually beneficial: Woolf has copiously nourished the French imagination; in turn, the French have contributed to augmenting Woolf’s cultural capital and reinforcing her literary status beyond the geographical borders in which she was born and the cultural tradition in which she has been exerting a continuous influence for more than a century.