Biographical space, autobiography and genre/gender: expanding the limits with Orlando: a biography, by Virginia Woolf

Abstract

Since its publication, Orlando: a biography (1928), by Virginia Woolf, has prompted many questions on what concerns gender/genre, as the main character Orlando changes sex from male to female mid-way through the plot. In this article, we focused on the limits of the notion of biographical space, in its intersection with the concept of (auto)biography, and also on the undecidability and interweaving of literary genre and gender, regarding the trans perspective brought about by Woolf's work. The piece is divided into three parts. Firstly, we examine the subject of (auto)biographical space, considering the works of Lejeune (2008), Arfuch (2010a, 2010b), Derrida (1985a) and Derrida et al. (1985b). Secondly, we explore the text The Law of Genre (Derrida, 2011) to discuss the relationship between literary genre and gender. Thirdly, we show the transits between the gender of the subjects and the literary genres involved in Woolf's work. Taking into account the deconstruction’s thinking, we found that Orlando not only crosses back and forth different genres, but also defies their stable limits. The work establishes a relationship with both the literary genres and genders since the fragmented self of Orlando questions the status of the (auto)biography literary genre. In conclusion, we acknowledge that Woolf/Orlando blurs the limits of the genres/genders, challenging the reader to certify her/his/its signature.