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Article: Sex change and media change: from Woolf's to Potter's 'Orlando'. (concepts of gender identity in Virginia Woolf's novel 'Orlando' and in the film adaptation with the same title directed by Sally Potter)
- Article from:
- Mosaic (Winnipeg)
- Article date:
- September 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 University of Manitoba, Mosaic. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Comparing the treatment of gender identity and feminist politics in Virginia Woolf's Orlando and Sally Potter's film, this essay examines how differences between the two media enable Woolf to embrace a performative conception of gender that makes her treatment of feminist concerns more radical than Potter's.
The diversity of contemporary feminist theory results from the proliferation of answers to two key questions: how to explain gender identity, and how to define political goals. For most theorists, these questions also have a necessary order: i.e., a position on gender identity must be established before political action can be taken. Thus in the case of feminists ...