Virginia Woolf’s Enduring Presence in Uruguay

Abstract

This chapter traces nearly ninety years of reading and writing on Virginia Woolf in Uruguay, focusing first on her early critical reception and then on distinguished Uruguayan writers who either explicitly or implicitly dialogue with her life and works. The study begins with Victoria Ocampo’s early engagements with Woolf’s works, which spurred translations initially on Orlando and A Writer’s Diary in the journals Sur, Marcha and Número. It then discusses the cultural context and early critical reception of Woolf in Uruguay, followed by the ways Stephen Daldry’s 2002 film The Hours kindled major interest in Woolf studies, leading many to re-read Mrs Dalloway and her other works. The chapter then moves on to consider Woolf’s influence on two major Uruguayan writers: Armonía Somers and Antonio Larreta. The final section looks at contemporary women writers who explicitly cite or ‘reverberate’ with Woolf: Cristina Peri Rossi, Alicia Migdal, Fernanda Trías and María Sánchez.