“Modern Fiction “ is an essay by

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AT.S.Eliot

BJames Joyce

CVirginia Woolf

DF.R. Leavis

Answer:

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was a pioneering English writer, widely regarded as one of the most significant novelists of the 20th century and a central figure in the Modernist literary movement.
Her essay "Modern Fiction", published in 1919, is a seminal work that articulates her theories on the novel and marks a departure from traditional narrative techniques.

In this essay, Woolf critiques the "materialistic" and "realistic" approach of earlier novelists, arguing that they focused too heavily on plot and external events, neglecting the inner lives of characters.
She advocates for a new kind of fiction that captures the "luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope" surrounding our thoughts and perceptions – the stream of consciousness.
Woolf champions the importance of psychological depth and the exploration of subjective experience, emphasizing the "incessant shower of innumerable atoms" that constitute human consciousness.
She famously stated that the role of the novelist is not to record what happens, but to "record the spirit of the thing, not the thing itself."

Beyond "Modern Fiction," Woolf's novels, such as Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), exemplify her experimental approach to narrative.
Her use of stream of consciousness, interior monologue, and shifting perspectives influenced generations of writers.
Woolf was also a prominent essayist, critic, and member of the Bloomsbury Group, an influential circle of intellectuals and artists in early 20th-century London.

Questions related to Modernist literature, stream of consciousness, and influential literary essays are common in competitive exams.
Understanding Woolf's theories, as presented in "Modern Fiction," is crucial for analyzing her own works and the broader context of Modernist fiction.

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