Il dilemma autoriale fra genre e gender. Il caso di “A Sketch of the Past” di Virginia Woolf

The authorial dilemma between genre and gender: the case of “A Sketch of the Past” by Virginia WoolfThe present article proposes a fresh reading of “A Sketch of the Past” the un finishedautobiographical piece written between 1939 and 1940 by Virginia Woolf. By retracing the genealogyof Woolf’s main texts through which the reflection on female authorship in relation to theautobiographical genre is articulated, the analysis aims to highlight how its meta-reflective quality andits strong experimental component contribute to turn “A Sketch of the Past” in one of the mostmature literary outcomes in life writing. By inheriting the restless dissatisfaction with the toolsavailable, and by experimenting with strategies and practices, the piece represents an unprecedentedinner self-exploration, where Woolf revisions the notion of modernist intimacy. Finally, myhypothesis is that the material conditions in which the piece was written, and the history of itsposthumous publication have contributed to free Woolf from social and familial pressures and theinvisible censors she was surrounded