Bloomsbury, Modernism, and the Reinvention of Intimacy

"Bloomsbury, Modernism, and the Reinvention of Intimacy integrates studies of six members and associates of the Bloomsbury group into a rich narrative of early twentieth century culture, encompassing changes in the demographics of private and public life, and Freudian and sexological assaults on middle-class proprieties Jesse Wolfe shows how numerous modernist writers felt torn between the inherited institutions of monogamy and marriage and emerging theories of sexuality which challenged Victorian notions of maleness and femaleness. For Wolfe, this ambivalence was a primary source of the Bloomsbury writers' aesthetic strength: Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, and others brought the paradoxes of modern intimacy to thrilling life on the page. By combining literary criticism with forays into philosophy, psychoanalysis, sociology, and the avant-garde art of Vienna, this book offers a fresh account of the reciprocal relations between culture and society in that key site for literary modernism known as Bloomsbury"-- "Popular and scholarly interests in Bloomsbury have been robust in recent years, with film adaptations of Virginia Woolf's and E. M. Forster's novels, homages by Michael Cunningham and Zadie Smith, biographies of several group members, critical examinations of its literary and philosophical importance, and studies of its role in the history of liberalism, feminism, pacifism, gay liberation, and other aspects of culture and politics. This interest suggests that Bloomsbury illuminates many dimensions of modern life. The current turn in modernist studies - toward examining modernity (a social phenomenon) as the context for modernism (aesthetic responses to this phenomenon) - also suggests that Bloomsbury deserves a central role in the story of literary modernism"-- "Bloomsbury, Modernism, and the Reinvention of Intimacy integrates studies of six members and associates of the Bloomsbury group into a rich narrative of early twentieth century culture, encompassing changes in the demographics of private and public life, and Freudian and sexological assaults on middle-class proprieties Jesse Wolfe shows how numerous modernist writers felt torn between the inherited institutions of monogamy and marriage and emerging theories of sexuality which challenged Victorian notions of maleness and femaleness. For Wolfe, this ambivalence was a primary source of the Bloomsbury writers' aesthetic strength: Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, and others brought the paradoxes of modern intimacy to thrilling life on the page. By combining literary criticism with forays into philosophy, psychoanalysis, sociology, and the avant-garde art of Vienna, this book offers a fresh account of the reciprocal relations between culture and society in that key site for literary modernism known as Bloomsbury"-- Résumé de l'éditeur

Bloomsbury, Modernism, and the Reinvention of Intimacy integrates the studies of three 'inner circle' members of the Bloomsbury group and three 'satellite' figures into a rich narrative of early twentieth-century culture. Wolfe shows how numerous modernist writers felt torn. On the one hand, they doubted the 'naturalness' of Victorian ideas about 'maleness' and 'femaleness,' but on the other hand they understood the value of monogamy and marriage and the value of these institutions to what Freud called the 'middle-class social order.' This ambivalence was a primary source of the writers' aesthetic strength; Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence and others brought the paradoxes of modern intimacy to life, wrestling with them on the page. Combining literary criticism with forays into philosophy, psychoanalysis, sociology and the avant-garde art of Vienna, this volume offers a fresh account of the reciprocal relations between historical modernity and artistic modernism.

"Popular and scholarly interests in Bloomsbury have been robust in recent years, with film adaptations of Virginia Woolf's and E.M. Forster's novels, homages by Michael Cunningham and Zadie Smith, biographies of several group members, critical examinations of its literary and philosophical importance, and studies of its role in the history of liberalism, feminism, pacifism, gay liberation, and other aspects of culture and politics. This interest suggests that Bloomsbury illuminates many dimensions of modern life. The current turn in modernist studies - toward examining modernity (a social phenomenon) as the context for modernism (aesthetic responses to this phenomenon) - also suggests that Bloomsbury deserves a central role in the story of literary modernism"-- Provided by publisher Introduction: narrating Bloomsbury Part I. Philosophical Backgrounds Chapter 1. The apostle: yellowy goodness in Bloomsbury's bible Chapter 2. The analyst: Freud's denial of innocence Part II. Defeated Husbands Chapter 3. The Bloomsburian: Forster's missing figures Chapter 4. The adversary: the love that cannot be escaped Part III. Domestic Angels Chapter 5. The Bloomsburian: Woolf's sane woman in the attic Chapter 6. The acolyte: a return to essences Conclusion: the prescience of the two Bloomsburies Appendices Notes Bibliography Index. Machine generated contents note: Introduction: narrating Bloomsbury; Part I. Philosophical Backgrounds: 1. The apostle: yellowy goodness in Bloomsbury's bible; 2. The analyst: Freud's denial of innocence; Part II. Defeated Husbands: 3. The Bloomsburian: Forster's missing figures; 4. The adversary: the love that cannot be escaped; Part III. Domestic Angels: 5. The Bloomsburian: Woolf's sane woman in the attic; 6. The acolyte: a return to essences; Conclusion: the prescience of the two Bloomsburies; Appendices; Notes; Bibliography; Index.