The Uses Of Autobiography

Cambridge. Julia Swindells Homerton College, Julia Swindells Homerton College, Cambridge.

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9780748403653
• eBook ISBN:
  9781135346294
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Feminist Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

First Published in 1995. Autobiography is commonly understood in terms of giving readers insight into the private lives of unique individuals, but in recent years the autobiographical project has absorbed a wide variety of social concerns. The contributors to this book explore a range of the uses of autobiography from the nineteenth-century to the present day, and from Africa, USA, the Middle East, France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The chapters draw on a number of approaches, including historical and literary methods to represent the autobiography's purpose of establishing communities of interest and social change.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Theories of Autobiography
• 3 Gender, Militancy and Wartime
• 4 Making Sense of the Self: Cultural Identities Under Pressure
• 5 Constructing the Self, Inventing Africa
• 6 Autobiography, Authenticity and Nineteenth-century Ideas of Race
• 7 Sisterhood and Self-censorship in the Nineteenth Century
• 8 The Educative ‘I’ in Nineteenth-century Women’s Autobiographies
• 9 Autobiography and Educational Change
• 10 Life Histories, Adult Learning and Identity
• 11 Assumed Identities: Feminism, Autobiography and Performance Art
• 12 There are stories and Stories: An Autobiography Workshop
• 13 Conclusion: Autobiography and the Politics of ‘The Personal’
• Contributors
• Index