Reading Autobiography Now
An Updated Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives, Third Edition
Published on 9. July 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-1-5179-1688-6 (ISBN)
Description
A user-friendly guide to reading, writing, and theorizing autobiographical texts and practices for students, scholars, and practitioners of life narrative
The boom in autobiographical narratives continues apace. It now encompasses a global spectrum of texts and practices in such media as graphic memoir, auto-photography, performance and plastic arts, film and video, and online platforms. Reading Autobiography Now offers both a critical engagement with life narrative in historical perspective and a theoretical framework for interpreting texts and practices in this wide-ranging field. Hailed upon its initial publication as "the Whole Earth Catalog of autobiography studies," this essential book has been updated, reorganized, and expanded in scope to serve as an accessible and contemporary guide for scholars, students, and practitioners.
Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson explore definitions of life narrative, probe issues of subjectivity, and outline salient features of autobiographical acts and practices. In this updated edition, they address emergent topics such as autotheory, autofiction, and autoethnography; expand the discussions of identity, relationality, and agency; and introduce new material on autobiographical archives and the profusion of "I"s in contemporary works. Smith and Watson also provide a helpful toolkit of strategies for reading life narrative and an extensive glossary of mini-essays analyzing key theoretical concepts and dozens of autobiographical genres.
An indispensable exploration of this expansive, transnational, multimedia field, Reading Autobiography Now meticulously unpacks the heterogeneous modes of life narratives through which people tell their stories, from traditional memoirs and trauma narratives to collaborative life narrative and autobiographical comics.
The boom in autobiographical narratives continues apace. It now encompasses a global spectrum of texts and practices in such media as graphic memoir, auto-photography, performance and plastic arts, film and video, and online platforms. Reading Autobiography Now offers both a critical engagement with life narrative in historical perspective and a theoretical framework for interpreting texts and practices in this wide-ranging field. Hailed upon its initial publication as "the Whole Earth Catalog of autobiography studies," this essential book has been updated, reorganized, and expanded in scope to serve as an accessible and contemporary guide for scholars, students, and practitioners.
Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson explore definitions of life narrative, probe issues of subjectivity, and outline salient features of autobiographical acts and practices. In this updated edition, they address emergent topics such as autotheory, autofiction, and autoethnography; expand the discussions of identity, relationality, and agency; and introduce new material on autobiographical archives and the profusion of "I"s in contemporary works. Smith and Watson also provide a helpful toolkit of strategies for reading life narrative and an extensive glossary of mini-essays analyzing key theoretical concepts and dozens of autobiographical genres.
An indispensable exploration of this expansive, transnational, multimedia field, Reading Autobiography Now meticulously unpacks the heterogeneous modes of life narratives through which people tell their stories, from traditional memoirs and trauma narratives to collaborative life narrative and autobiographical comics.
Reviews / Votes
"This book offers a superb wayfinder through the rich and strange forest of life writing and its many forms of art. Bringing decades of wisdom as leaders in this multidisciplinary field, Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson have wonderfully updated this latest edition, with attention to multimedia and digital life narrative, nobody memoir, autographics, ecocriticism, sex and gender narrative, dementia recordings, and much more. Those with time will enjoy theoretical debates on embodiment, epistemology, experience, and identity; seekers in a hurry have mini-essays for quick marveling at autobiography now." -Margaretta Jolly, director, Centre for Life History and Life Writing Research, University of Sussex"This third edition of the most comprehensive, provocative, and useful guide to life narratives updates its chapters on autobiography, extends its international reach, and expands its coverage of the stunning range of genres, media, and hybrid forms increasingly occupying the forefront of life-writing studies. This book is what theorists, critics, teachers, and students need now." -Craig Howes, director, Center for Biographical Research, University of Hawai?i at Manoa
"This book is an essential tool for anyone seeking a firm grounding in this increasingly complex and expansive field, from its theoretical origins to key contemporary developments, as well as its future directions. While instructors will find this book an invaluable primer for both graduate and upper-level undergraduate students, it is also indispensable for scholars seeking a thorough yet succinct account of this unusually broad field."-CHOICE
More details
Edition
3
Language
English
Place of publication
Minnesota
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
482 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5179-1688-6 (9781517916886)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Sidonie Smith is Lorna G. Goodison Distinguished University Professor Emerita of English and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Michigan. Among her almost two dozen books are Manifesto for the Humanities and, with Julia Watson, Life Writing in the Long Run.
Julia Watson is Academy Professor Emerita of Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University. She is author of numerous essays in the field and, with Sidonie Smith, coauthor of two books and coeditor of five books.
Julia Watson is Academy Professor Emerita of Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University. She is author of numerous essays in the field and, with Sidonie Smith, coauthor of two books and coeditor of five books.
Content
Contents
Preface
Part I. Theorizing Life Narrative
1. Defining and Discerning Life Narrative Forms
2. Autobiographical Subjects
3. Autobiographical Acts
4. What about Autobiographical Truth?
Part II. A Guide to Reading Life Narrative
5. Reading Life Narratives: A Tool Kit of Strategies
6. Kinds of Life Narratives: A Compendium of Key Concepts and Genres
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Publication History
Index
Preface
Part I. Theorizing Life Narrative
1. Defining and Discerning Life Narrative Forms
2. Autobiographical Subjects
3. Autobiographical Acts
4. What about Autobiographical Truth?
Part II. A Guide to Reading Life Narrative
5. Reading Life Narratives: A Tool Kit of Strategies
6. Kinds of Life Narratives: A Compendium of Key Concepts and Genres
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Publication History
Index