All around the world, haggis is being toasted, bagpipes being piped and neeps and tatties roasted as poetry lovers in Scotland and elsewhere – as well as anyone looking for an excuse to pour a generous dram of whisky – celebrate Thursday’s birthday of Robert Burns, a candidate for the #MeToo movement if ever there was one.
Behind every celebration of a great man lies a woman who could be equally venerated, but usually isn’t. Virginia Woolf, whose contribution to and influence on literature has been immense, was born on the same day as Ayrshire’s favourite son – yet year after year, no one shows up to her party.
The past decade alone has seen big anniversaries for Shakespeare, Martin Luther, Charles Dickens and Anthony Burgess, chock-full of biographies, documentaries and public talks. This February sees celebrations for the centenary of that staple of Edinburgh literature, Muriel Spark (although she lived the bulk of her adult life in Tuscany), and Emily Brontë’s bicentenary is due in July.
But women’s writing is valued differently – that is, less – and the public attention (and public money) spent on celebrating it misses an opportunity to do something truly radical and get people thinking about literature and who produces it in a different way. These celebrations could be used not just to celebrate the work of well-known writers but to bring the lesser-known ones to light. Give us Aphra Behn or Radclyffe Hall if you want historical figures, or celebrate the likes of Jackie Kay and Liz Lochhead while they’re still around to appreciate it.
In recent years, many individuals have taken to reading work only by women or writers of colour; efforts that do, in a small way, tackle the prejudices underpinning what is published, reviewed and read in the UK. But when literary history is whitewashed to erase or minimise women’s contributions, except for the occasional centenary celebration, this is a gesture tantamount to fighting fire with a water pistol.
Of course, Burns Night isn’t solely about Burns, and suggesting that we spend even one 25 January celebrating the work of a queer woman with mental illness over one of Scotland’s biggest exports is guaranteed to get some people frothing at the mouth. But when we celebrate it, what are we really saying is of cultural importance? It’s rarely an excuse for literary criticism, but why not? Just last year, Glasgow Women’s Library celebrated a Woolf Supper, commissioning female writers to respond to both Woolf’s and Burns’s work from a feminist angle. This event highlighted how rare it is for women to be given the stage, to remind us that some of our great men weren’t so great after all. If we can’t do that this year, of all years in recent history, when can we?
It was Woolf who said, “One cannot think well, love well or sleep well if one has not dined well,” which seems like a call for a riotous shindig or at least a slap-up meal (perhaps made with a copy of Orlando in one hand). The mealtimes in her novels are sure to leave anyone with an appetite whetted for more than just her words; you could almost use To the Lighthouse as your recipe for boeuf en daube, such is the detail. (“The beef, the bayleaf, and the wine – all must be done to a turn. To keep it waiting was out of the question.”) This is a woman whose life was studded with anecdotes about food: she was a keen pickler, once baked her own wedding ring into a cake and had a friendly rivalry with her sister over their bread-making skills. Not surprisingly, her (fraught) relationship with her cook was rich and complex enough to fill an entire biography.
So, tonight, buy the flowers yourself, pull together a meal out of The Bloomsbury Cookbook (turbot in aspic can’t possibly be worse than haggis) and ask more seriously: why don’t we have such an iconic day dedicated to a woman writer?
Today would have marked the 136th birthday of the great British modernist novelist Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), an occasion marked by Google's latest Doodle.
The writer is revered for her works Mrs Dalloway (1925), To The Lighthouse (1927), Orlando (1928) and A Room of One's Own (1929) and is credited with popularising the stream-of-consciousness style of prose, giving the English novel a bold, new voice and pushing it beyond the tried-and-tested narrative structures of the Victorian era into fresh and experimental new territory.
Woolf is also remembered as a scion of the intellectual Bloomsbury Group, a loosely-convened artistic salon that also included her husband Leonard, an essayist and publisher, economist John Maynard Keynes, novelist EM Forster, critic Roger Fry and post-impressionist painter Vanessa Bell.
Google Doodles
80 show all Google Doodles
1/80 Virginia Woolf Google Doodle celebrating Virginia Woolf Google
2/80 Wilder Penfield Google Doodle celebrating Wilder Penfield Google
3/80 Sergei Eisenstein Google Doodle celebrating Sergei Eisenstein Google
4/80 Winter Solstice Google Doodle celebrating Winter Solstice Google
5/80 St Andrew's Day Google Doodle celebrating St Andrew's Day Google
6/80 Gertrude Jekyll Google Doodle celebrating Gertrude Jekyll Google
7/80 Children's Day 2017 Google Doodle celebrating Children's Day 2017 Google
8/80 Cornelia Sorabji Google Doodle celebrating Cornelia Sorabji Google
9/80 Pad Thai Google Doodle celebrating Pad Thai Google
10/80 Jackie Forster Google Doodle celebrating Jackie Forster Google
11/80 Halloween 2017 Google Doodle celebrating Halloween 2017 Google
12/80 Studio for Electronic Music Google Doodle celebrating the Studio for Electronic Music Google
13/80 Selena Quintanilla Google Doodle celebrating Selena Quintanilla Google
14/80 Olaudah Equiano Google Doodle celebrating Olaudah Equiano Google
15/80 Fridtjof Nansen Google Doodle celebrating Fridtjof Nansen Google
16/80 Amalia Hernandez Google Doodle celebrating Amalia Hernandez Google
17/80 Dr Samuel Johnson Google Doodle celebrating Dr Samuel Johnson Google
18/80 Sir John Cornforth Google Doodle celebrating Sir John Cornforth Google
19/80 British Sign Language Google Doodle celebrating British Sign Language Google
20/80 Eduard Khil Google Doodle celebrating Eduard Khil Google
21/80 James Wong Howe Google Doodle celebrating James Wong Howe Google
22/80 Eiko Ishioka Google Doodle celebrating Eiko Ishioka Google
23/80 Eva Ekeblad Google Doodle celebrating Eva Ekeblad Google
24/80 Fourth of July Google Doodle celebrating Fourth of July Google
25/80 Wimbledon Championship Google Doodle celebrating Wimbledon Google
26/80 Victor Hugo Google Doodle celebrating Victor Hugo Google
27/80 Google Doodle celebrating Oskar Fischinger Google Doodle celebrating Oskar Fischinger Google
28/80 UK General Election 2017 Google celebrates the UK General Election Google
29/80 Zaha Hadid Google celebrates the acclaimed architect for becoming the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize on this day in 2004 Google
30/80 Richard Oakes Google Doodle celebrating Richard Oakes' 75 birthday Google
31/80 Google Doodle celebrating the Antikythera Mechanism Google Doodle celebrating the Antikythera Mechanism Google
32/80 Ferdinand Monoyer The famous French ophthalmologist, who invented the eye test, would have celebrated his 181st birthday today Google
33/80 Google Doodle celebrating Giro d'Italia's 100th Anniversary Google Doodle celebrating Giro d'Italia's 100th Anniversary Google
34/80 Google Doodle celebrating Nasa's Cassini probe Google Doodle celebrating Nasa's Cassini probe Google
35/80 Google Doodle celebrating Fazlur Rahman Khan Google Doodle celebrating Fazlur Rahman Khan Google
36/80 Google Doodle celebrating Sergei Diaghilev Google Doodle celebrating Sergei Diaghilev Google
37/80 Google Doodle celebrating St. Patrick's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. Patrick's Day Google
38/80 Google Doodle celebrating Holi Festival Google Doodle celebrating Holi Festival Google
39/80 Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google
40/80 Abdul Sattar Edhi Google Doodle of Abdul Sattar Edhi on February 28 2017 Google
41/80 Seven earth-sized exoplanets discovered Google Doodle celebrates Nasa's discovery of seven earth-sized exoplanets in new solar system Google
42/80 Bessie Coleman Google Doodle honours the first African American woman to get an international pilot licence on her 125th birthday Google
43/80 Caroling Google Doodle celebrates Christmas caroling Google
44/80 Today's Google Doodle features activist Steve Biko Google
45/80 Walter Cronkite Google celebrates Walter Cronkite's 100th birthday
46/80 Ladislao José Biro Google celebrates Ladislao José Biro 117th birthday
47/80 Google Google celebrates its 18th birthday
48/80 The history of tea in Britain Google celebrates the 385th anniversary of tea in the UK
49/80 Autumnal equinox 2016 Google marks the start of fall
50/80 Paralympics 2016 Google marks the start of the Paralympic Games 2016
51/80 Nettie Stevens Google celebrates Nettie Stevens 155th birthday
52/80 Father's Day 2016 Google celebrates Father's Day
53/80 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Google celebrates Elizabeth Garrett Anderson 180th birthday
54/80 Earth Day 2016 Google celebrates Earth Day
55/80 Ravi Shankar Google marks Pandit Ravi Shankar's 96th birthday
56/80 Olympic Games in 1896 Google are celebrates the 120th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games in 1896
57/80 World Twenty20 final Google celebrates the 2016 World Twenty20 cricket final between the West Indies and England with a doodle Google
58/80 William Morris Google celebrates William Morris' 182 birthday with a doodle showcasing his most famous designs Google
59/80 St Patrick's Day 2016 Googlle celebrates St Patrick's Day on 17 March
60/80 Caroline Herschel Google marks Caroline Herschel's 266th birthday Google
61/80 Clara Rockmore Google celebrates Clara Rockmore's 105th birthday
62/80 International Women's Day 2016 #OneDayIWill video marks International Woman's Day on 8 March
63/80 St David's Day 2016 Google marks St David's Day Google
64/80 Leap Year 2016 Google celebrates Leap Day on 28 February 2 Google
65/80 Lantern Festival 2016 Google celebrates the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations with a doodle of the Lantern Festival Google
66/80 Stethoscope Inventor, René Laennec Google celebrate's René Laennec's 235th birthday
67/80 Valentine's Day 2016 Google celebrates Valentine's Day with a romantic Doodle
68/80 Dmitri Mendeleev Google celebrate Dmitri Mendeleev's 182nd birthday
69/80 "The televisor" demonstartion Google Doodle celebrates 90 years since the first demonstration of television or "the televisor" to the public
70/80 Professor Scoville Google marks Professor Scoville’s 151st birthday
71/80 Sophie Taeuber-Arp Google marks Sophie Taeuber-Arp's 127th birthday
72/80 Charles Perrault Google celebrates author Charles Perrault's 388th birthday
73/80 Mountain of Butterflies discovery Google celebrates the 41st anniversary of the discovery of the Mountain of Butterflies
74/80 Winter Solstice 2015 Google celebrate the Winter Solstice
75/80 St Andrew's Day 2015 Google marks St Andrew's Day with doodle featuring Scotland's flag and Loch Ness monster
76/80 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy' Google marks the 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy', the name given to a collection of fossilised bones that once made up the skeleton of a hominid from the Australopithecus afarensis species, who lived in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago
77/80 George Boole Google marks George Boole's 200th birthday
78/80 Halloween 2015 Google celebrates Halloween using an interactive doodle game "Global Candy Cup"
79/80 Prague Astronomical Clock Google celebrates the 605th anniversary of the Prague Astronomical Clock, one of the oldest functioning timepieces in the world
80/80 Autumnal Equinox 2015 Google marks the autumnal equinox on 23 September
Woolf suffered from depression throughout her life and killed herself in 1941 at the height of the Blitz, wading into the River Ouse in Sussex with stones lining her pockets to ensure she drowned.
She would later be revived as a feminist icon, however, celebrated for her independent example and famous for her dictum that, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
Although this last remark remains her most famous, Woolf of course made many other insightful observations on life, writing and femininity, a selection of which follow.
On women
“As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is the whole world.”
“Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.”
“Anything may happen when womanhood has ceased to be a protected occupation.”
“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
On life
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
“You cannot find peace by avoiding life.”
“Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends.”
“Never pretend that the things you haven't got are not worth having.”
On writing
TRIBUN-BALI.COM- Manajemen mesin pencarian terbesar dunia, Google kembali menampilkan sebuah tokoh sebagai doodle pada laman utama pencariannya pada Kamis (25/1/2018).
Google Doodle menampilkan sosok seorang wanita cantik dengan rambut dikuncir atas sambil melihat ke arah samping.
Sekeliling fotonya terlihat taburan dedaunan melingkar dan menyatu dengan tulisan google.
Rupanya dia adalah sorang penulis novel bernama Virginia Woolf.
Dirinya diketahui sebagai wanita yang meninggal karena bunuh diri secara sadis.
Kok bisa dikenang dan menjadi google doodle, berikut fakta dan daftar kehebatannya:
1. Virginia Woolf memiliki nama asli Adeline Virginia Stephen. Nama Woolf diambil dari nama keluarga suaminya yang merupakan penulis dan politikus Leonard Woolf.
2. Lahir di Kensington, Middlesex, Inggris pada 25 Januari 1882. Artinya jika masih hiduo dia akan berumur 136 tahun.
3. Dia merupakan perempuan yang cantik dan anggun. Ayahnya, Leslie Stephen, dan Ibunya Julia, merupakan pasangan yang sudah pernah menikah sebelumnya.
Leslie memiliki anak bernama Laura, sementara Julia memunyai Gerard, Stella, dan George Duckworth. Ketika mereka menikah, lahirlah Vanessa, Tobby, Virginia, dan si bungsu Adrian.
Liputan6.com, Jakarta Mesin pencari raksasa Google kembali menampilkan sosok Google Doodle hari ini. Dia adalah Virginia Woolf. Penulis novel kenamaan Inggris yang lahir 25 Januari 1882 itu mengakhiri hidup dengan cara tragis, yakni bunuh diri di umur 59 tahun.
Saat masih hidup, Virginia Woolf, sosok di Google Doodle hari ini, tumbuh di keluarga kaya. Ayahnya Sir Leslie Stephen adalah sejarawan dan penulis. Sementara sang ibu Julia Prinsep Stephen adalah model yang juga perawat, seperti mengutip laman Biography, Kamis (25/1/2018).
Virginia memiliki tiga saudara kandung dan empat saudara tiri yang hidup satu atap di Kensington, Inggris. Namun, ada saudara tiri yang melakukan pelecehan seksual pada dirinya saat masih kecil, sehingga membuatnya trauma seperti dituliskan dalam otobiografi A Sketch Of The Past.
Sisi gelap hidupnya tak berhenti sampai di situ. Di usia 13, dia syok atas kematian ibunya yang meninggal mendadak karena demam rematik. Kejadian ini membuat kesehatan mentalnya makin tergoncang. Apalagi ditambah pada 1904 ayahnya meninggal dunia.
