Virginia Woolf and the Magazines

Abstract

This chapter examines three stories Virginia Woolf published in 1938–39 in Harper’s Bazaar, simultaneously in the American and British versions. Focusing on the target readership of Harper’s Bazaar and the placement of Woolf’s stories in each magazine issue, printed in juxtaposition with particular articles, illustrations, advertisements and a pervading commercial ethos, the chapter argues that these stories stand in ironic contrast to the implied values of the magazine and its readership. Positioning these stories in the original print contexts thus allows one to trace ironic tensions that do not exist when the stories are read in later, book-form editions of Woolf’s work. In the American context in particular, Woolf’s stories, like Harper’s Bazaar itself, are shown to insulate readers from the suffering of the Great Depression and the impending violence of another world war.