The Cambridge Companion to Autobiography

A historical overview of autobiography from the works of Augustine, Montaigne, and Rousseau to the Romantic, Victorian, and modern eras.

Maria DiBattista (Edited by), Emily O. Wittman (Edited by)

9781107609181, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 May 2014

286 pages
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.5 cm, 0.42 kg

The Cambridge Companion to Autobiography offers a historical overview of the genre from the foundational works of Augustine, Montaigne, and Rousseau through the great autobiographies of the Romantic, Victorian, and modern eras. Sixteen essays from distinguished scholars and critics explore the diverse forms, audiences, styles, and motives of life writings traditionally classified under the rubric of autobiography. Chapters are arranged in chronological order and are grouped to reflect changing views of the psychological status, representative character, and moral authority of the autobiographical text. The volume closes with a group portrait of late-modernist and contemporary autobiographies that, by blurring the dividing line between fiction and non-fiction, expand our understanding of the genre. Accessibly written and comprehensive in scope, the volume will appeal especially to students and teachers of non-fiction narrative, creative writing, and literature more broadly.

Introduction Maria DiBattista and Emily O. Wittman
Part I. Foundations: 1. Augustine Adam Becker
2. Medieval European autobiography John Fleming
3. Montaigne Lawrence Kriztman
4. Rousseau Eli Friedlander
Part II. Consolidations: 5. Romantic autobiography Frances Wilson
6. Victorian autobiography Deborah Nord
7. American autobiography Robert Sayre
Part III. Deflections: 8. Kierkegaard/Nietzsche Alistair Hannay
9. Pessoa Alfred MacAdam
10. Gide/Genet Jean-Michel Rabaté
Part IV. Prisms: 11. Nabokov Leland de la Durante
12. African American autobiography Trudier Harris
13. Holocaust memoirs Michael Bernard-Donals
14. Women's autobiographies Maria DiBattista
15. The 'new' memoir Patrick Madden
16. Creative non-fiction Mary Cappello.

Subject Areas: Literature: history & criticism [DS], Autobiography: literary [BGLA]