Woolf, Bergson and the Sciences

Modernist Animals

By: Candice Kent

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eText | 25 February 2026 | Edition Number 1

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Woolf, Bergson, and the Sciences explores the use of animals in Woolf's novels, alongside the writing of philosopher, Henri Bergson, and relevant science and nature writers. Since Woolf and Bergson are both deeply engaged with the science of their time, they are read in the context of writings by a wide range of scientists, including Charles Darwin; his protege George Romanes; evolutionary theory's vociferous champion, T. H. Huxley; Huxley's students, comparative psychologist Conwy Lloyd Morgan and novelist H. G. Wells; social scientists, who drew on evolutionary theory, such as William McDougall and Wilfred Trotter; and physiologists Julian Huxley and J. B. S. Haldane, both accomplished popularisers. The book also juxtaposes Woolf with contemporary literary writers to assess degrees of alignment and divergence, with the further aim of gaining insights into the complexity of responses to animal issues. To this purpose, it includes discussions on writings by, among others, H. G. Wells, Wilfred Owen, Leonard Woolf, Naomi Mitchison, David Garnet, Mary Butts, and John Buchan. This monograph is for scholars and postgraduate students interested in and researching Virginia Woolf, Henri Bergson, modernism, science and literature, and animal studies.