Digital Narratives

“Who was I then? Adeline Virginia Stephen, the second daughter of Leslie and Julia Prinsep Stephen, born on 25th January 1882, descended from a great many people, some famous, others obscure; born into a large connection, born not of rich parents, but of well-to-do parents, born into a very communicative, literate, letter writing, visiting, articulate, late nineteenth century world."*

Advancing technology has provided a robust set of tools to weave the linguistic pleasure of story with the evocative powers of voice and graphics. The result is a genre known as the digital narrative, a model which forms the backbone of our website. Compiled from Woolf’s words and archival photographs of family and friends, the digital narratives present Woolf’s perspective on several of her significant relationships. Each narrative is a case study that can be viewed on its own or compared and contrasted with other narratives.

· Woolf discussing her mother, Julia Stephen

· Woolf discussing her father, Leslie Stephen

· Woolf discussing her sister, Vanessa Bell

· Woolf discussing her husband, Leonard Woolf

· Woolf reading the suicide note she left on the mantelpiece for Leonard

___References for this Section____

*Woolf, V. (1985). Moments of Being. 2d ed. (J. Schulkind, Ed.) New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Smith College Sophia and Austin Smith Professor of Psychology and Philosophy Jill de Villiers performs the role of Woolf in each of the narratives.

_____Acknowledgements________

Estate of Vanessa Bell, courtesy Henrietta Garnett
Estate Gisele Freund / IMEC Images
2010 Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris
Estate of Sir William Rothenstein / National Portrait Gallery, London
The Society of Authors as the Literary Representative of the Estate of Virginia Woolf.