Lesbian approaches

Abstract

Lesbian studies of Virginia Woolf have been central to the refraining and reconceptualizing of Woolf’s life and work that have occurred over the last thirty years or so. The apolitical, asexual, elitist whose writing was primarily concerned with stylistic experimentation and the nuanced representation of fine shades of feeling has metamorphosed into a politically aware, passionate woman whose writings bear witness to her feminist, pacifist, socialist, and anti-imperialist convictions. It is impossible to separate clearly the development of lesbian approaches to Woolf from the other approaches covered in this volume. In particular, feminist criticism has been central to lesbian criticism of Woolf (see Chapter 5 in this volume). The feminist emphasis on attending to and elucidating women’s issues, experiences, and relationships with other women and on tracing women’s intellectual and literary traditions and influences made possible lesbian approaches to Woolf; most scholarship on lesbianism in Woolf’s life and work is feminist in critical and theoretical orientation. (Feminist criticism and theory, of course, encompass a wide range of approaches: radical feminist, historical, biographical, psychoanalytic, poststructuralist, socialist, and more.) Lesbian studies of Woolf have brought about serious attention to the importance of Woolf’s friendships with and erotic feelings for women.