The Rise of the Memoir

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Theory, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book The Rise of the Memoir by Alex Zwerdling, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Alex Zwerdling ISBN: 9780191081941
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: November 24, 2016
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Alex Zwerdling
ISBN: 9780191081941
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: November 24, 2016
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

The Rise of the Memoir traces the growth and extraordinarily wide appeal of the memoir. Its territory is private rather than public life, shame, guilt, and embarrassment, not the achievements celebrated in the public record. What accounts for the sharp need writers like Rousseau, Woolf, Orwell, Nabokov, Primo Levi, and Maxine Hong Kingston felt to write (and to publish) such works, when they might more easily have chosen to remain silent? Alex Zwerdling explores why each of these writers felt compelled to write them as that story can be reconstructed from personal materials available in archival collections; what internal conflicts they encountered while trying; and how each of them resisted the private and public pressures to stop themselves rather than pursuing this confessional route, against their own doubts, without a reasonable expectation that such works would be welcome in print, and eventually find an empathetic audience. Reconstructing this process in which a dubious project eventually becomes a compelling product-a "memoir" that will last-illuminates both what was at stake, and why this serially invented open form has reshaped the expectations of readers who welcomed a vital alternative to "the official story."

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

The Rise of the Memoir traces the growth and extraordinarily wide appeal of the memoir. Its territory is private rather than public life, shame, guilt, and embarrassment, not the achievements celebrated in the public record. What accounts for the sharp need writers like Rousseau, Woolf, Orwell, Nabokov, Primo Levi, and Maxine Hong Kingston felt to write (and to publish) such works, when they might more easily have chosen to remain silent? Alex Zwerdling explores why each of these writers felt compelled to write them as that story can be reconstructed from personal materials available in archival collections; what internal conflicts they encountered while trying; and how each of them resisted the private and public pressures to stop themselves rather than pursuing this confessional route, against their own doubts, without a reasonable expectation that such works would be welcome in print, and eventually find an empathetic audience. Reconstructing this process in which a dubious project eventually becomes a compelling product-a "memoir" that will last-illuminates both what was at stake, and why this serially invented open form has reshaped the expectations of readers who welcomed a vital alternative to "the official story."

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book Distributive Justice by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book An International Bill of the Rights of Man by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book The Political Economy of Italy's Decline by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book Twelve Voices from Greece and Rome by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book The Law and Politics of International Regime Conflict by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book The Lives of Ants by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book The General in Winter by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book Capital Markets Union in Europe by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book The Reflective Life by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book Bellamy & Child by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book Goy by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book A Phenomenology of the Devout Life by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Attention by Alex Zwerdling
Cover of the book A Better Way of Doing Business? by Alex Zwerdling
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