Fluid Identity, Narrative Complexity, and Chaos Theory Reading Woolf’s Orlando through Hayles’s Concept of Complex Forms

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student, Islamic Azad University, CT.C., Tehran, Iran

2 Islamic Azad University, CT.C., Tehran, Iran

10.22091/slic.2026.14711.1022

Abstract

This study examines Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A Biography (1928) through the lens of N. Katherine Hayles’s chaos theory, with particular attention to the concept of complex forms. Woolf’s protagonist, who undergoes both gender transformation and temporal displacement across four centuries, embodies the nonlinear and unpredictable qualities of chaotic systems. Drawing on Hayles’s Chaos Bound: Orderly Disorder in Contemporary Literature and Science (1990) and Chaos and Order: Complex Dynamics in Literature and Science (1991), the paper argues that Orlando’s shifting identities illustrate the fractal-like repetitions and scaling effects central to chaos theory. Orlando’s metamorphosis from nobleman to woman, and from aristocrat to artist, destabilizes conventional binaries of gender, class, and authorship, thereby generating multiple interpretive possibilities. By situating Woolf’s narrative within the framework of chaos theory, the research highlights how uncertainty, fragmentation, and fluidity enrich literary meaning rather than diminish it. Ultimately, Orlando’s journey demonstrates that identity and narrative are not fixed structures but dynamic, evolving systems. This interdisciplinary approach underscores Woolf’s modernist innovation while revealing how chaos theory provides a productive model for understanding the multiplicity and indeterminacy inherent in literary texts.

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Main Subjects

Studies in literature and Culture: from Theory to Practice

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 25 August 2026

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