On Life-Writing

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book On Life-Writing by , OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: ISBN: 9780191081361
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: October 8, 2015
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author:
ISBN: 9780191081361
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: October 8, 2015
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

'Life-writing' is a generic term meant to encompass a range of writings about lives or parts of lives, or which provide materials out of which lives or parts of lives are composed. These writings include not only memoir, autobiography, biography, diaries, autobiographical fiction, and biographical fiction, but letters, writs, wills, written anecdotes, depositions, marginalia, lyric poems, scientific and historical writings, and digital forms (including blogs, tweets, Facebook entries). On Life-Writing offers a sampling of approaches to the study of life-writing, introducing readers to something of the range of forms the term encompasses, their changing fortunes and features, the notions of 'life,' 'self' and 'story' which help to explain these changing fortunes and features, recent attempts to group forms, the permeability of the boundaries between forms, the moral problems raised by life-writing in all forms, but particularly in fictional forms, and the relations between life-writing and history, life-writing and psychoanalysis, life-writing and philosophy. The essays mostly focus on individual instances rather than fields, whether historical, theoretical or generic. Generalizations are grounded in particulars. For example, the role of the 'life-changing encounter,' a frequent trope in literary life-writing, is pondered by Hermione Lee through an account of a much-storied first meeting between the philosopher Isaiah Berlin and the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova; James Shapiro examines the history of the 'cradle to grave' life-narrative, as well as the potential distortions it breeds, by focusing on Shakespeare biography, in particular attempts to explain Shakespeare's so-called 'lost years'.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

'Life-writing' is a generic term meant to encompass a range of writings about lives or parts of lives, or which provide materials out of which lives or parts of lives are composed. These writings include not only memoir, autobiography, biography, diaries, autobiographical fiction, and biographical fiction, but letters, writs, wills, written anecdotes, depositions, marginalia, lyric poems, scientific and historical writings, and digital forms (including blogs, tweets, Facebook entries). On Life-Writing offers a sampling of approaches to the study of life-writing, introducing readers to something of the range of forms the term encompasses, their changing fortunes and features, the notions of 'life,' 'self' and 'story' which help to explain these changing fortunes and features, recent attempts to group forms, the permeability of the boundaries between forms, the moral problems raised by life-writing in all forms, but particularly in fictional forms, and the relations between life-writing and history, life-writing and psychoanalysis, life-writing and philosophy. The essays mostly focus on individual instances rather than fields, whether historical, theoretical or generic. Generalizations are grounded in particulars. For example, the role of the 'life-changing encounter,' a frequent trope in literary life-writing, is pondered by Hermione Lee through an account of a much-storied first meeting between the philosopher Isaiah Berlin and the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova; James Shapiro examines the history of the 'cradle to grave' life-narrative, as well as the potential distortions it breeds, by focusing on Shakespeare biography, in particular attempts to explain Shakespeare's so-called 'lost years'.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book Little Dorrit by
Cover of the book The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by
Cover of the book Babylonia: A Very Short Introduction by
Cover of the book One Century of Karl Jaspers' General Psychopathology by
Cover of the book Neutrino by
Cover of the book Euler's Pioneering Equation by
Cover of the book Animal Social Networks by
Cover of the book Poverty and Fundamental Rights by
Cover of the book Jason and the Golden Fleece (The Argonautica) by
Cover of the book A Foot in the River by
Cover of the book Sleep: A Very Short Introduction by
Cover of the book Oxford Handbook of Clinical Dentistry by
Cover of the book The Oxford History of Life-Writing: Volume 1. The Middle Ages by
Cover of the book Secret Chambers by
Cover of the book Wilmot-Smith on Construction Contracts by
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy