Bio-Graphik in Virginia Woolfs To the Lighthouse

Zwischen den Künsten und über das Leben hinaus

Abstract

Taking the figure of the painter Lily Briscoe – and the artwork she completes with a single brushstroke at the end of the novel – as its starting point, this article examines the interplay between visual and narrative art. It identifies ‘bio-graphics’ as a hybrid narrative mode made possible only through this inter-artistic interplay. Here, art no longer fünctions merely as a representation of life (and of narratable life paths) but as a participatory practice of living that, for brief, fragile moments, can transcend the individual’s limited perspective and offer (spiritual) glimpses into a realm beyond the self.