The Sphinx of Bloomsbury: The Literary Essays and Biographies of Lytton Strachey

The Sphinx of Bloomsbury focuses on Lytton Strachey's literary critical essays and his major biographies. By placing his work in the broader context of the Modernist canon, this book offers a picture of the writer who wrote 'the first book of the twenties, ' who has been regarded as one of the cleverest men of his generation and one of the most prominent members of the Bloomsbury Group, and who has been known for his stylish ease and elegance. Not only do Strachey's essays provide the ground for advocating his wide critical horizon, they also exemplify his essential critical attitude the attitude that dismisses a whole critical school of evaluative, prescriptive criticism. His biographies contain the biographer's musings and meditations on his craft and on the question of historiography, thus coming closer to Postmodernist issues. They point to the 'bio-graphical' tenet whereby knowledge is mediated through texts, and are tied up with acts of interpretation and narration. Strachey has