Contemporary American Memoirs in Action

How to Do Things with Memoir

Jane Danielewicz

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9783319696010
• eBook ISBN: 9783319696027
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism Theory
• Index: Literature

This book analyzes a collection of literary memoirs to demonstrate how this genre is an avenue for participation in public life. Writers are repurposing the memoir, a genre known for its personal and expressive function, to engage in debate and serve political goals. The chapters provide case studies for memoir as social action that effects change by looking at the writing of Joan Didion, John Edgar Wideman, James McBride, M. Elaine Mar, Janisse Ray, Lucy Grealy, and Ann Patchett.Drawing on theories of genre and agency, Danielewicz asserts how these writers are acting pragmatically. Memoirs contribute to democratic society by offering solutions, creating new knowledge, revealing social trends, bringing issues to light, creating empathy and connection, and changing public opinion.

© The Author(s) 2018

Jane DanielewiczContemporary American Memoirs in ActionAmerican Literature Readings in the 21st Centuryhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69602-7_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Jane Danielewicz¹

(1)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

Abstract

This book is about how the contemporary memoir is an avenue of participation in the public sphere. Memoir is an individual and highly personal genre, one that is open and flexible. The genre is immensely popular. Thomas Couser goes so far as to claim that “this is an age—if not the age—of memoir” (3, italics his). The memoir has become the dominant form, surpassing even the novel, as the most published and most read genre (Yagoda 7). In writing memoir, individuals reflect on their lived experience and, in publishing their stories, act on their commitments to self and others. I argue that memoirs perform social actions that influence public debate and intervene in public issues.

Keywords

Public spherePragmatismMemoir as actionAgency

End Abstract

Memoir as Public Action

This book is about how the contemporary memoir is an avenue of participation in the public sphere . Memoir is an individual and highly personal genre , one that is open and flexible. In writing memoir , individuals reflect on their lived experience and, in publishing their stories , act on their commitments to self and others. I argue that memoirs perform actions that influence public debate and intervene in public issues. It seems that no one disputes the immense popularity of the contemporary memoir. Thomas Couser goes so far as to claim that “this is an age—if not the age—of memoir” (3, italics his). The memoir has become the dominant form, surpassing even the novel, as the most published and most read genre (Yagoda 7).

The question is why memoir and why now? Rhetoricians refer to the concept of timeliness as kairos or the right time for action. What is it about the situation or political and social environment that makes the memoir so popular? I think that the memoir as a genre not only has a personal or expressive function but also plays a public, even political , role. In other words, memoirs are a way for people to access and participate in the contemporary public sphere . While there are many ways that individuals may add their voices to social discourse, including digital media, the memoir is one noticeable and energetic sign of such engagement. The public sphere is where we find out what’s happening and where we engage. It is sometimes described as “a metaphor for thinking about how individual human beings come together to exchange ideas and information and feelings” (McKee 204). A vibrant and vigorous public sphere is essential to democracy.

The contemporary public sphere is less a coherent space for rational argument and more a patchwork or a collection of different venues and participating groups. Some critics—especially those who cling to a modernist stance—lament these changes to the public sphere , arguing that public discourse is no longer focused on political debate and rational argument. Instead, these critics claim, people have become apathetic and disengaged from politics , interested only in entertainment or distraction. They attribute this “devolution” to newer social movements like feminism , gay rights, ecological activism, and so on, which have created a public sphere that some critics regard as “trivialized, commercialized, spectacular, fragmented ” (McKee 16) . But an alternative view is that participation from other social groups signals a positive development.

As the cultural boundaries between private and public life have disintegrated in recent times, different publics have emerged, and public spaces—especially virtual ones with multiple modes of communication—have greatly expanded. The contemporary public sphere is characterized by cultural diversity and a proliferation of alternative and unorthodox formats. These changes make it easier for people from different backgrounds, classes , ethnicities , and genders to access the public sphere and contribute significantly to the “creation of public culture, public policy and running the state” (McKee 10) . The inclusiveness of the public sphere —one composed of smaller, multiple, and overlapping public spheres —is a positive development for democratic societies . Many more people who have a variety of interests and commitments have access to the public sphere . Furthermore, each of these “different publics, public spheres and public spaces” generates “their own forms of communicative organization” (Lee 416) . This instantiation of the public sphere creates new possibilities for who can participate and for what counts as participation. Once all groups and their discourse are recognized, then a rich public sphere develops, one that reveals many individuals’ intense commitment to issues, their desire to reveal injustices, speak out about personal values, and bring diverse opinions and perspectives to the table. In other words, the rise of the memoir can be associated with the diversification and expansion of the public sphere.

Many of these same critiques applied to the changing public sphere could and have been lodged against memoirs—they are just personal stories about trivial subjects, concerned with gossip about celebrities; they don’t count as serious literature; people read them as entertainment; they are hungry for real stories —the more scandalous and salacious, the better! But the explosion of writers and readers of memoir, a personal contribution to public discourse, certainly counteracts any claims of apathy or disengagement. If anything, individuals in the postmillennial political and economic climate appear even more invested in telling their stories , describing particular contexts and circumstances, and contributing their experiences to others. Their motivations are not about self-aggrandizement, but are rather contributions toward creating knowledge, registering their opinions, making it clear as to what issues matter now and the most pressing problems that need solutions.

After all, in a democracy generally and in our current political climate, the stakes are high. Who gets to speak, about what topics, and from which perspectives? Who contributes to and shapes the final consensus of opinion? I see the memoir as the quintessential genre suited to public debate. Its form is democratic , reality-based, identity-based, and open-ended, including and often merging topics that are private and personal as well as political and public. Memoirs identify important issues, air varying opinions, point toward consensus, present evidence , recount individual choices, and reveal their implications. Sometimes memoirs prompt political or social action , playing a crucial role in the presentation and exchange of ideas and issues, a function essential to democratic practices.

In the five chapters that follow, I will look more closely at specific memoirs to show exactly how writers use the genre to achieve their own ends: bringing to light issues that matter, reflecting on their experiences and registering their opinions, shaping and shifting the conversation , and using personal narrative to connect with readers . In each chapter, I select memoirs that focus on a specific issue or dilemma and a single type of action . Memoirs are so far-ranging that it would be impossible to cover all the possible types of actions . To give some indication of this richness, however, I include memoirs by authors from diverse backgrounds who are situated in different social contexts and have varied aims and allegiances. Each chapter reveals memoirs in action : reflecting, voicing, reckoning...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Frontmatter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Reflecting
• 3. Voicing
• 4. Reckoning
• 5. Advocating
• 6. Witnessing
• 7. Coda
• Backmatter