[Vwoolf] A Semi-Transparent Envelope

Wed Aug 28 17:27:36 EDT 2024

Dear Laura:

Thank you for your thoughtful, beautiful email. tbh - I was beginning to
feel slightly confused, if not ashamed, actually, for having misread it
all...
Yet - "Life" is "not this or that" - but what *is*, indeed, Life?

We should certainly enjoy (it), though - no matter what.

All best wishes to you as well 😊🌞😎

mc

*Marie-Claire Boisset-Pestourie*

*Address * Nlle-Aquitaine, France

*Phone * +33 (0)5 55 88 29 61  <+33%20(0)5%2055%2088%2029%2061>

*Cell*  +33 (0)6 38 83 73 21  <+33%20(0)6%2038%2083%2073%2021>

*Email * mc at clarior.net  <mc at clarior.net>

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On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 10:34 PM Laura Cernat <cernat.laura at kuleuven.be>
wrote:

> Dear Marie Claire,
>
> Thank you for bringing us, as it were, back to Life. And sorry we've
> strayed a tad far from it. My mention of biography and of Woolf's model of
> Life in contrast to the Victorian one was intended to keep that in focus,
> but admittedly we all got technical about what inspired the metaphor
> instead of exploring its value. I hope the idea of symmetrical versus
> asymmetrical lamps still sheds some light on that supreme question that
> fascinated Woolf: how to capture life in its swing, in its quiver, in its
> elusiveness? How to find a structure that is neither pure chaos nor a
> corset for lived experience, but at once granite and rainbow? There's more
> to that than fits in a casual email, but if such a subtle, nimble, and yet
> epiphany-laden email can be written, it will probably appear on this
> listserv, which is always so surprising and delightful.
>
> Enjoy the summer's end,
>
> Laura
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces+cernat.laura=kuleuven.be at lists.osu.edu> on
> behalf of Marie Claire Boisset via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 28, 2024 10:15 PM
> *To:* Claire Battershill <claire.battershill at utoronto.ca>
> *Cc:* vwoolf at lists.osu.edu <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [Vwoolf] A Semi-Transparent Envelope
>
> Dear Claire and Woolfians: Did I misread this email of Claire Battershill
> & answer it based on "Life" - "(what) Life is. . . " The discussion seems
> to have immediately, interestingly focused on "gigs", "gig-lamps",
> Dear Claire and Woolfians:
>
> Did I misread this email of Claire Battershill & answer it based on "Life"
> - "(what) Life is..."
> The discussion seems to have immediately, interestingly focused on "gigs",
> "gig-lamps", "envelope", JR & O. & lights.
>
> Or was it me being totally out of focus - or off-topic, having read these
> lines all too quickly?
>
> Humble apologies for the cursory reading if I should have looked at the
> whole segment & other more practical details,
> not what I thought was the main question - about "Life"...
>
> All the best
>
> mc
>
>
>
> *Marie-Claire Boisset-Pestourie*
>
>
>
>
>
> IMPORTANT: The contents of this email and any attachments are
> confidential. They are intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you
> have received this email by mistake, please notify the sender immediately
> and do not disclose the contents to anyone or make copies thereof.
> Please consider your environmental responsibility. Before printing this
> e-mail message, ask yourself whether you really need a hard copy.
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 27, 2024 at 4:38 PM Claire Battershill via Vwoolf <
> vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:
>
> Dearest Woolfians, I hope this finds you well and enjoying the last days
> of August. I'm writing to ask if anyone could point me to some discussions
> and debates about the meaning of Woolf's frequently quoted passage about
> "life" from
> Dearest Woolfians,
>
> I hope this finds you well and enjoying the last days of August.
>
> I'm writing to ask if anyone could point me to some discussions and
> debates about the meaning of Woolf's frequently quoted passage about "life"
> from "Modern Fiction" (“Life is not a series of gig lamps symmetrically
> arranged’ but a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us
> from the beginning of consciousness to the end”)? I know the 'gig lamps'
> have been variously defined (as spectacles by Julia Briggs, for instance);
> and this little bit is frequently quoted in relation to broader writings on
> consciousness, but I'd love to be pointed in the direction of further
> discussion and interpretation of this fascinating passage. I love for
> instance Jane Goldman's connection of the landscape of Skye to the image
> and the re-appearance of the phrase "semi-transparent" in her piece on the
> two postcards in the Miscellany.
>
> The halo, the gig lamps, the envelope...a lot going on!
>
> Thanks so much for your thoughts and any references you might share,
> Claire
>
> Dr. Claire Battershill (she/her)
> Assistant Professor
> Faculty of Information & Department of English
> Wendy M. Cecil Professor at Victoria College
> University of Toronto
>
> *The University of Toronto operates on the traditional land of the
> Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this
> meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across
> Turtle Island and I am grateful to have the opportunity to work on this
> land.*
>
> Book time with Claire Battershill
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/user/da0e7588e2f04045916dd0f5dc142641@utoronto.ca?anonymous&ep=pcard__;!!KGKeukY!327U0RX5Q3tFGBWAsJpaCqoBnyx7H8feyYl3J1yb9kTioc2tJGEpsF1ZhKH_y0N1WmQtEkxvVeDKxun-c476cjVwjjZ7nPdsXg$>
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