Writing the Self: Varieties of Memoirs and Autobiography

In the last 20 years, there has been a remarkable transformation in the forms of autobiographical writing. "Personal writing" has infiltrated fiction, critical essays, philosophical treatises, ethnography, legal discourse, medical case studies, and political history. In this course, we will consider the varieties of contemporary memoirs and their relationship to earlier forms of confessional and testimonial writing. Political memoirs, spiritual memoirs, literary memoirs, psychoanalytical memoirs, memoirs of illness, recovery, and trauma will be discussed in relation to cultural and scientific theories of memory, its loss and recovery. Students will be expected to complete short analytical papers each week and to choose a final project that incorporates personal writing.