Virginia Woolf and the Politics of Language

The distillation of many years of sparklingly erudite scholarship and continuing incisive debate, Judith Allen's book is essential reading for anyone concerned by current and disturbing ramifications of the politics of language and the language of politics in the modern world. She provides a generously open guide to many of Woolf's most influential essays as well as to her major manifestos, A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas. -- Dr Jane Goldman, Reader in English Literature, University of Glasgow Guided by Montaigne's trenchant question, 'What do I know?', Judith Allen shows how the lexicon of war in the twenty-first century can be revealed in all its lamentable 'truthiness' by paying attention to what Virginia Woolf's essays have to say about the power of language to transform our world. This is a book that makes refreshingly clear Woolf's deep political engagement with the urgent issues of war and peace. -- Mark Hussey, Editor, Woolf Studies Annual A thoughtful and provocative book which ranges widely across Virginia Woolf's work, paying particular attention to her essays and to her "essayistic" writings ... Allen's book is a timely and welcome addition to Woolf scholarship and to a growing body of work on the essay itself. -- Randi Saloman, Wake Forest University Woolf Studies Annual The distillation of many years of sparklingly erudite scholarship and continuing incisive debate, Judith Allen's book is essential reading for anyone concerned by current and disturbing ramifications of the politics of language and the language of politics in the modern world. She provides a generously open guide to many of Woolf's most influential essays as well as to her major manifestos, A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas. Guided by Montaigne's trenchant question, 'What do I know?', Judith Allen shows how the lexicon of war in the twenty-first century can be revealed in all its lamentable 'truthiness' by paying attention to what Virginia Woolf's essays have to say about the power of language to transform our world. This is a book that makes refreshingly clear Woolf's deep political engagement with the urgent issues of war and peace. A thoughtful and provocative book which ranges widely across Virginia Woolf's work, paying particular attention to her essays and to her "essayistic" writings ... Allen's book is a timely and welcome addition to Woolf scholarship and to a growing body of work on the essay itself.