"He's the Test(imony)": Edward Gibbon and Virginia Woolf's View of History

This article examines Virginia Woolf's view of history by taking Edward Gibbon as a locus of historical reflection and refiguration. Starting with a reinvestigation into the Gibbon episode in The Voyage Out, it argues that Woolf's primary aim is to equate history as an act of reading and t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEnglish studies Vol. 105; no. 7; pp. 1098 - 1122
Main Authors Zhang, Pengfei, Gao, Fen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Lisse Routledge 01.11.2024
Swets & Zeitlinger bv
Subjects
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

Loading…
Abstract This article examines Virginia Woolf's view of history by taking Edward Gibbon as a locus of historical reflection and refiguration. Starting with a reinvestigation into the Gibbon episode in The Voyage Out, it argues that Woolf's primary aim is to equate history as an act of reading and thereupon a sort of reader-oriented text. The reader's powerful autonomy in historical reading foregrounds the textuality of history. This article turns then to explore the ways in which Woolf maneuvers the writing style of Gibbon and infuses it into her historical writing through the prism of imagination. The literary and reconstructive attributes of historical writing indicate the subjectivity of history. Finally, this article adumbrates the retrospective trajectory of Woolf's mode of thinking in history. By virtue of Gibbon's great doctrine of the continuity of history, Woolf forges a continuous connection between the present and the past as well as the future. Valorising Gibbon as both an allusion and an influencer, this article problematises the widely acknowledged nineteenth-century traditions or twentieth-century philosophies thought to be assimilated or anticipated by Woolf; instead, it defends Woolf's receptive and revisionist stance vis-à-vis the eighteenth-century historian as a legacy and correspondingly outlines her triangulated view of history.
AbstractList This article examines Virginia Woolf's view of history by taking Edward Gibbon as a locus of historical reflection and refiguration. Starting with a reinvestigation into the Gibbon episode in The Voyage Out, it argues that Woolf's primary aim is to equate history as an act of reading and thereupon a sort of reader-oriented text. The reader's powerful autonomy in historical reading foregrounds the textuality of history. This article turns then to explore the ways in which Woolf maneuvers the writing style of Gibbon and infuses it into her historical writing through the prism of imagination. The literary and reconstructive attributes of historical writing indicate the subjectivity of history. Finally, this article adumbrates the retrospective trajectory of Woolf's mode of thinking in history. By virtue of Gibbon's great doctrine of the continuity of history, Woolf forges a continuous connection between the present and the past as well as the future. Valorising Gibbon as both an allusion and an influencer, this article problematises the widely acknowledged nineteenth-century traditions or twentieth-century philosophies thought to be assimilated or anticipated by Woolf; instead, it defends Woolf's receptive and revisionist stance vis-à-vis the eighteenth-century historian as a legacy and correspondingly outlines her triangulated view of history.
Author Gao, Fen
Zhang, Pengfei
Author_xml – sequence: 1
  givenname: Pengfei
  orcidid: 0000-0003-1422-7786
  surname: Zhang
  fullname: Zhang, Pengfei
  email: broderickzhang2020@163.com
  organization: Zhejiang University
– sequence: 2
  givenname: Fen
  surname: Gao
  fullname: Gao, Fen
  organization: Zhejiang University
BookMark eNo1kE1PAjEQhhuDiYD-BJMGD-phsdOP7eJJQxA0JF4QvW3a3VZLlla7Swj_3t2Ip7k8M_O-zwD1fPAGoUsgYyAZuSMEWMayjzEllI8pmxDJ0hPUB8l5winIHup3TNJBZ2hQ1xtCiGAZ7aOX0cJc17j5Mnhl6ubGbYM_3I7u8azcq1jiudM6eKx8idcufjrvFH4PobLt0tqZPQ4WL1zdhHg4R6dWVbW5OM4henuaraaLZPk6f54-LhMHkjSJ5VKkIBU3E2AECltQwwstKVNKawEWQFHgBYiyJClkmaLCCC0sK0xpU82G6Orv7ncMP7s2dL4Ju-jblzkD3tZqnciWevijnLchbtU-xKrMG3WoQrRR-cJ1OMk7g_m_wbwzmB8Nsl_PH2QZ
ContentType Journal Article
Copyright 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group 2024
2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Copyright_xml – notice: 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group 2024
– notice: 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
DOI 10.1080/0013838X.2024.2390736
DatabaseTitleList

DeliveryMethod fulltext_linktorsrc
Discipline Languages & Literatures
EISSN 1744-4217
EndPage 1122
ExternalDocumentID 2390736
Genre Research Articles
GeographicLocations United States--US
Virginia
GeographicLocations_xml – name: United States--US
– name: Virginia
GrantInformation_xml – fundername: National Social Science Foundation of China
  sequence: 0
  grantid: 22BWW040
GroupedDBID --Z
-DZ
-~X
.7I
.QK
0BK
0R~
29G
2DF
4.4
5GY
5VS
85S
AACJB
AAGZJ
AAMFJ
AAMIU
AAPUL
AATTQ
AAZMC
ABCCR
ABCCY
ABFIM
ABJNI
ABLIJ
ABLJU
ABPEM
ABTAI
ABXUL
ABXYU
ABZLS
ACGFS
ACNCT
ACTIO
ACTOA
ADAHI
ADCVX
ADKVQ
ADLRE
ADMHG
ADXPE
AECIN
AEISY
AEKEX
AEMXT
AEOZL
AEPSL
AEYOC
AEZRU
AGDLA
AGMYJ
AGRBW
AHDZW
AIJEM
AJWEG
AKBVH
ALMA_UNASSIGNED_HOLDINGS
ALQZU
AVBZW
AWYRJ
BEJHT
BKOMP
BLEHA
BMOTO
BOHLJ
CCCUG
COF
CQ1
CS3
DKSSO
EBS
E~B
E~C
G-F
GTTXZ
H13
HF~
HZ~
IPNFZ
J.O
KYCEM
L7B
LJTGL
M4Z
NA5
O9-
P2P
PQQKQ
RIG
RNANH
ROSJB
RSYQP
S-F
S10
STATR
TAE
TBQAZ
TDBHL
TEA
TFH
TFL
TFW
TNTFI
TRJHH
TUROJ
TWZ
UPT
UT5
UT9
VAE
VQA
WH7
XSW
ZCA
~01
~S~
ID FETCH-LOGICAL-i170t-f475617a4e91301cfc2e4cb723aabb51f11a214c15dd06188a25e5b5f3cedf6b3
ISSN 0013-838X
IngestDate Tue Dec 17 13:44:42 EST 2024
Tue Dec 17 04:27:26 EST 2024
IsPeerReviewed true
IsScholarly true
Issue 7
Language English
LinkModel OpenURL
MergedId FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-i170t-f475617a4e91301cfc2e4cb723aabb51f11a214c15dd06188a25e5b5f3cedf6b3
ORCID 0000-0003-1422-7786
PQID 3145380807
PQPubID 30356
PageCount 25
ParticipantIDs proquest_journals_3145380807
informaworld_taylorfrancis_310_1080_0013838X_2024_2390736
PublicationCentury 2000
PublicationDate 20241101
PublicationDateYYYYMMDD 2024-11-01
PublicationDate_xml – month: 11
  year: 2024
  text: 20241101
  day: 01
PublicationDecade 2020
PublicationPlace Lisse
PublicationPlace_xml – name: Lisse
PublicationTitle English studies
PublicationYear 2024
Publisher Routledge
Swets & Zeitlinger bv
Publisher_xml – sequence: 0
  name: Routledge
– sequence: 0
  name: Swets & Zeitlinger bv
RelatedPersons Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941)
RelatedPersons_xml – fullname: Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941)
SSID ssj0005382
Score 2.3510668
Snippet This article examines Virginia Woolf's view of history by taking Edward Gibbon as a locus of historical reflection and refiguration. Starting with a...
This article examines Virginia Woolf’s view of history by taking Edward Gibbon as a locus of historical reflection and refiguration. Starting with a...
SourceID proquest
informaworld
SourceType Aggregation Database
Publisher
StartPage 1098
SubjectTerms Edward Gibbon
history
The Voyage Out
Virginia Woolf
Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941)
Title "He's the Test(imony)": Edward Gibbon and Virginia Woolf's View of History
URI https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0013838X.2024.2390736
https://www.proquest.com/docview/3145380807
Volume 105
hasFullText 1
inHoldings 1
isFullTextHit
isPrint
link http://utb.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwnV1fb9MwELdK98IL4j-DgfyAEAilqmOncXibtpUKlYFQu1V7iWLnPEVCrbRkIPHUr4EEX66fhHPsZAEqBLxEUSLb1d0v5_P1fneEPLVbqNAjCHQyhEAoYIE0oQxyUCaWWZZExoYG3h6PJnPxZhEtej3TyVq6rNRAf9nKK_kfreIz1Ktlyf6DZttJ8QHeo37xihrG61_puMlUOJhAc5uUtSs5A8vlkKiIJUoxad4e2gCA69P88nWhlE9FPikuzgtLzzpdrT6azlQnntbiion89A-w5__W9Wk7iYhtAPo9LM8NFG1-T1bHZMeeeebjDKHwhLs2zvgZqrKG4xngMq5KovrUta2MB5LXjYJxZ3HmNBYiEKFjZ7b2dhh1gBV3rCcbuo7UfidGVzDcauWbtEjG7XoD-2sHIcdjPt9SVfv4XTqeT6fp7Ggxu0Z2bMFE0Sc7-5PDs9OrZCAuw6bXhZ2z4XrZKuzblvmlsO1vG3ntncxukhv-WEH3HUZukR4sb5P7Ux-MLukzOm3rZ5d3yIfN-tsENuuvJUW0UIuW5zVWXmzW319RhxDqEEIRIbRBCK0RUg-02KArQz027pL5-Gh2MAl8d42gYPGwCoyI0XeOMwEJ-jFMGx2C0CoOeZYpFTHDWBYyoVmU5-j0SZmFEUQKv10NuRkpfo_0l6slPCA01yqKE8lzrUHEI6MymQgAyY1K8LyQ75KkK620qoNRxnWOSTlry9Q6SadW0qmX9C7Za0Sb-k_PDhGoMRwTP_zz60fk-hWW90i_uriEx-hFVuqJh8APtlFtKQ
link.rule.ids 314,780,784,27924,27925,59651,60440
linkProvider Library Specific Holdings
linkToHtml http://utb.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwpR3JSsQwNLgc9OK-b0HE5dDRtEmTehNR6zh6kFHnVpI0gaK0MNNB9Ot9mbYqiifP5YWXt-QtfQtCe86EUh0aT0cnxqPKEE9YX3ipUZYLKSNmXWrg9i6MH2i7x3rfemFcWaWLoW01KGL0VjvldsnopiTuePR7LRA9CO982vIhbOdBOI4mWRQyUM7J7n07jr8KPQLhN3sMHFTTx_PXQT-Glv56pEeW53IW6QbnquDkuTUsVUu__xjn-L9LzaGZ2jHFZ5UkzaMxky-glU6dzhzgfdz5nMA8WETt3dgcDDC4j7gLOB8Cy_O3o91TXG2BxleZUkWOAR38mPUB1Uzip6J4sQD0mJlXXFhcjSh5W0IPlxfd89ir9zJ4GeEnpWcpB6-LS2oisIBEW-0bqhX3AymVYsQSIn1CNWFpCu6CENJnhingujapDVWwjCbyIjerCKdaMR6JINXaUB5aJUVEjRGBVcDLMF1D0XdeJOUojWGrnSNJQD4HnFa0Sxztkpp2a2izYVxSK6YDoSAPAMPX_3H0DpqKu7edpHN9d7OBpt2nqj9xE02U_aHZAkelVNu1JH4ARxvdjQ
linkToPdf http://utb.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwpV1ZS8QwEB50BfHF-76CiMdDV9OmTeqbqGtdVxFZj7eSpAkUpRW3i6y_3mTbqig--VwmTGYmmaOTbwC2rQslMlCODA-VQ4TCDtMucxIlNGWch762pYGr6yC6I-1Hv-4m7FVtlTaH1iVQxPCutof7JdF1R9zB8O-axx5NdueSpmuyduoFozAW2PHJDRjr3raj6KvPw2NuPcbAUtXPeP5a6Adm6a87euh4WlMgapbLfpOnZr8QTfn-A83xX3uahskqLEXHpR3NwIjKZmGxUxUze2gHdT7xl3tz0N6K1G4PmeARdQ3Le0bh2WB_6wiVM6DReSpEniHDDbpPXw2nKUcPef6sDdF9qt5QrlEJUDKYh7vWWfckcqqpDE6K6WHhaEJNzEU5UaHxf1hq6SoiBXU9zoXwscaYu5hI7CeJCRYY466vfGF0LlWiA-EtQCPLM7UEKJHCpyHzEikVoYEWnIVEKeZpEZo4M1mG8Lsq4mJYxNDlxJHYw5_wpqXsYiu7uJLdMqzVeourY2lJiDEHQ0NX_rH0JozfnLbizsX15SpM2C_l48Q1aBSvfbVuopRCbFR2-AGnEtwx
openUrl ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=%E2%80%9CHe%E2%80%99s+the+Test%28imony%29%E2%80%9D%3A+Edward+Gibbon+and+Virginia+Woolf%E2%80%99s+View+of+History&rft.jtitle=English+studies&rft.au=Zhang%2C+Pengfei&rft.au=Gao%2C+Fen&rft.date=2024-11-01&rft.pub=Swets+%26+Zeitlinger+bv&rft.issn=0013-838X&rft.eissn=1744-4217&rft.volume=105&rft.issue=7&rft.spage=1098&rft.epage=1122&rft_id=info:doi/10.1080%2F0013838X.2024.2390736&rft.externalDBID=NO_FULL_TEXT
thumbnail_l http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/lc.gif&issn=0013-838X&client=summon
thumbnail_m http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/mc.gif&issn=0013-838X&client=summon
thumbnail_s http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/sc.gif&issn=0013-838X&client=summon