Time and technology in Orlando

Abstract

Technologies of time are central to Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, symbolism that is equally present in Sally Potter’s film adaptation of the novel. Both Woolf and Potter advance narratives that detail a journey through time, achieved through an exploration of external devices, all of which serve to embody the self, and resolve it with the surrounding environment. In this paper, the concept of external devices, specifically in relation to technologies of time, as examined in both Woolf’s novel and Potter’s adaptation, will be analysed thematically. This paper will begin with a delineation of social and cultural theories relevant to this discourse, before offering theoretically-informed criticism of the aforementioned works.