Aline Sanfelici

Reflections on Virginia Woolf's Orlando: Issues of Identity Aline Sanfelici

This book discusses queer theory as regards the portrayal of Orlando in Virginia Woolf?s novel, "Orlando: A Biography." The character is first analyzed in light of the intersections between gender, race, class, and nation, and subsequently in terms of the poetic persona, understood from both liberal and radical perspectives. The findings show that the character can be understood to destabilize gender fixity in the construction of a poetic persona. Findings also show that there is a conflict in the novel as it presents at the same time a transgressive text and a normatizing subtext, a conflict that must be criticized for its implications in cultural studies regarding queer theories, gender studies, and emancipatory politics.