Beyond the Granite and Below the Rainbow : An Analysis of the Translations and the Reception of Virginia Woolf in Iran

International audienceVirginia Woolf is one of the most popular writers in Iran. Her works have been translated and retranslated, thus leading to new discoveries of her image in diferent moments of post-revolution history in this country. Through case studies, this paper will reflect on how translation may lead to the recycling of a writer's work. I will claim that what boils down to an act of recycling regarding Woolf is an imbalance between the granite and the rainbow while translating her works and representing her image. By treating facts about her life and the surface of her works as the granite, and the intangible soul of the personality or the stylistic layers of her œuvre as the rainbow, this paper will try to show how one aspect is overmanipulated while the other is not attained. It will therefore be an attempt to trace the destiny that Virginia Woolf has undergone in Iran in the shadow of its inclinations towards a recycled Woolf. In this regard, the reception of Woolf and her relationship with her Persian readers are the focus of this paper