In the past year, two major Leonard Woolf events have taken place in England: the formulation of The Leonard Woolf Society, thanks to the work of Dr. Surendra Paul of Cambridge University, and, in March of this year, a one-day symposium on Woolf's first novel, The Village in the Jungle (1913) at The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing at Wolfson College, Oxford. Considered “a leading yet often overlooked modernist document,” Leonard's novel is increasingly recognized as an extraordinarily far-sighted colonial text. As a “foundational novel in the Sri Lankan literary canon” (Symposium), Leonard's novel has never been out of print since it was first published in 1913. A writer and activist deeply engaged in the founding of the League of Nations, Leonard became increasingly skeptical of imperialist expansion.

In this paper I explore Leonard Woolf's work and the concept of imperialism—a term which at the turn of the 20th century, was re-establishing itself through practice and mindful awareness of its implications, moving away from 19th century ideas, and embracing concerns—including the Great War—of the 20th. The more I read essays by and about Leonard—his autobiography, his novels, his treatises, his letters, his work for the Fabian Society, and more—the more appealing I find him, and the more I appreciate his work. (And how could I not, remembering some of Cecil Woolf's banquet remembrances at earlier conferences—of Leonard's frugality, saving envelopes addressed to him, turning them inside out and reusing them; and of how, when either his pajama bottoms or tops became too threadbare, he would simply discard the most threadbare item, and substitute another top or a bottom, whether it matched or not.)

Leonard was extremely frugal, but he was also extremely astute. From Cecil, I gained insight into Leonard the man—vulnerable, economical, and at times eccentric…