Recognizing in the Inferno That Which is Not
Reflections on Writing a Memoir
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4493528 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Phil Cohen (University of East London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 173-191 |
| Publication date | 2012-10-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History Workshop Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1363-3554 • E-ISSN: 1477-4569 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/hwj/dbr035 |
| OpenAlex | W2109554625 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 3 |
The essay draws on the experience of writing a memoir to reflect on current trends, models and motivations within the genre. Philippe Lejeune’s notion of the ‘autobiographical pact’ is used to look at how different approaches to memoir-writing stake their claims to be an ‘authentic’ discourse of the self. In addition it is argued that life-story scripts, conveyed primarily through family and schooling, play an important role in the process of authentification, albeit one that is shifting as a result of changes in the culture, economy and society. The discourse of aspirationalism with its meritocratic insistence that everyone is an author of their own life is seen as symptomatic of this shift, as evidenced by the current popularity of the ‘triumph over adversity’ life story. The essay then turns to look at the influence of identity politics and the growth of the ‘victimology’ narrative; this is followed by a discussion of life stories that focus on the ‘dislocated subject’ and the various uses of the memoir to settle accounts with past and present. The essay concludes by considering the ‘anxiety of influence’ in contemporary memoir-writing and just how unsettling and revisionary the whole project can turn out to be.
Aesthetics · Art · Identity (music) · Life writing · Literature · Memoir · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Subject (documents) · Autobiographical and Biographical Writing · Gender Studies · History · Law · Oral History, Memory, Narrative Analysis
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2014 - 2014 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |