Department of English

Description: The forms of autobiographical writing, such as memoirs and diaries, afford an intimate access to the processes entailed in the formation and reformation of identity. The twentieth century has seen a growth in the publication of autobiographical forms of writings by women, some of whom deliberately obscure the boundaries between non-fiction and fiction. We will investigate the power and flexibility of the autobiographical voice with a group of texts by writers from Australia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, and the United States. Authors may include Isak Dinesen, Marguerite Duras, bell hooks, Helen Garner, Alice Kaplan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Doris Lessing, Carol Shields, and Carolyn Kay Steedman. Requirements: class attendance and participation and two papers.