My Hundreds of Inches of Skin : an International Portrait Gallery of Virginia Woolf Tattoos.

Caroline Marie (1)

1 Fablitt - Fabrique du littéraire

This essay argues that Virginia Woolf‑inspired literary tattoos ought to be envisaged as an international portrait gallery that creates a community of fans both reflecting and shaping today’s versioning of Woolf as a public figure and the epitome of literature for feminists. It focuses on tattooed portraits to show in what way the predominantly Beresford-inspired motifs shape, recontextualise, and storify the cultural object referred to as Virginia Woolf, collectively making up a significant discourse and narrative. It analyses the way Victorian, ethereal Woolf is figured through the imagery of the saint. It then understands her inked portraits in the light of eighteenth-century miniature and the imagery of family portraits. It finally understands the contemporary mystique of literature this creates in reference to the theory of the two bodies of the King.

Mots clés: Virginia Woolf; literary tattoo; portrait; miniature; signature; Virginia Woolf

Domaines: Littératures

Caroline Marie. My Hundreds of Inches of Skin : an International Portrait Gallery of Virginia Woolf Tattoos.. La Peaulogie - Revue de sciences sociales et humaines sur les peaux, 2020, La littérature dans la peau : tatouages et imaginaires., 4, pp.19-69. ⟨halshs-02567823v1⟩