The literature of the 1930s is commonly characterized as anti-modernist because of the prevalence of 
documentary realism, political purpose, and autobiographically-inflected fiction. Moreover, the canonical literature of the decade is almost entirely authored by privileged young men, a phenomenon explored by Virginia Woolf in “The Leaning Tower.”
Interestingly, however, the 1930s bears witness to Woolf’s most daring and most commercially successful novels, The Waves and The Years respectively.
With this context in mind: how does the “modernist” and “feminist” Woolf align with the common understanding of the decade’s literary figures and their production? And, by extension, does and if
so, how Woolf’s 1930s writing sheds new light on a decade of literature otherwise dominated by the Auden and Brideshead Generations?
This issue of Virginia Woolf Miscellany, which will be published in Spring 2015, seeks contributions that explore Woolf’s relationship to the canonical literature of the 1930s, such as but not limited to:
Auden’s poetry, Isherwood’s Berlin fiction, Auden’s and Isherwood’s plays, Spender’s commentary, and Waugh’s comedic novels. Equally, this issue also seeks contributions examining resonances among Woolf’s 1930s writing and non-canonical literature of the decade, especially literature written by women.
In addition, this issue encourages responses to the following questions:
- How does Woolf scholarship, if at all, engage with the critical study of 1930s literature?
- How does Woolf?s modernism disrupt or complement the critical understanding of 1930s literature?
- What can Woolf?s late fiction and essays reveal about the 1930s and its literature that the traditional scholarly narrative conceals or overlooks?
Send submissions of no more than 2500 words to: Erica Gene Delsandro ericadelsandro@gmail.com
Deadline for submission: Extended to Sept. 1, 2014
Alice Lowe
Catherine
Kaylee Baucom
Paula Maggio
Stefano Rozzoni
seanmcphail
suzannebellamy1
veronikakra
Vara Neverow
William Patrick Wend
Zoe Wolstenholme
You must be logged in to post a comment.