The Cambridge Companion to Autobiography

doi:10.1017/CCO9781139235686

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.

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Contents

The Cambridge Companion to Autobiography - Half title page
pp i-ii
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Series page
pp iii-iv
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The Cambridge Companion to Autobiography - Title page
pp v-v
- By Maria DiBattista, Emily O. Wittman
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Copyright page
pp vi-vi
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Contents
pp vii-viii
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Notes on Contributors
pp ix-xii
- By Adam H. Becker, Michael Bernard-Donals, Mary Cappello, Maria DiBattista, Leland de la Durantaye, John V. Fleming, Eli Friedlander, Alastair Hannay, Trudier Harris, Lawrence D. Kritzman, Alfred MacAdam, Patrick Madden, Deborah Epstein Nord, Jean-Michel Rabaté, Robert F. Sayre, Frances Wilson, Emily O. Wittman
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Acknowledgments
pp xiii-xiv
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Chronology
pp xv-xx
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1 - Introduction
pp 1-20
- By Maria DiBattista, Emily O. Wittman
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Part I - Foundations
pp 21-68
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2 - Augustine’sConfessions
pp 23-34
- By Adam H. Becker
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3 - Medieval European Autobiography
pp 35-48
- By John V. Fleming
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4 - Montaigne and the Crisis of Autobiography
pp 49-57
- By Lawrence D. Kritzman
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5 - Rousseau’s Autobiographies
pp 58-68
- By Eli Friedlander
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Part II - Consolidations
pp 69-116
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6 - Romantic Autobiography
pp 71-86
- By Frances Wilson
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7 - Victorian Autobiography
pp 87-101
Sons and Fathers
- By Deborah Epstein Nord
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8 - American Autobiography and History
pp 102-116
- By Robert F. Sayre
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Part III - Deflections
pp 117-162
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9 - Kierkegaard and Nietzsche
pp 119-132
- By Alastair Hannay
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10 - Pessoa
pp 133-147
- By Alfred MacAdam
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11 - Transgressors
pp 148-162
AndréGide and Jean Genet
- By Jean-Michel Rabaté
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Part IV - Prisms
pp 163-252
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12 - The True Purpose of Autobiography, or the Fate of Vladimir Nabokov’sSpeak, Memory
pp 165-179
- By Leland de la Durantaye
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13 - African American Autobiography
pp 180-194
- By Trudier Harris
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14 - Holocaust Memoirs
pp 195-207
Writing Forgetfully
- By Michael Bernard-Donals
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15 - Women’s Autobiographies
pp 208-221
- By Maria DiBattista
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16 - The “New Memoir”
pp 222-236
- By Patrick Madden
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17 - Wending Artifice
pp 237-252
Creative Nonfiction
- By Mary Cappello
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Index
pp 253-259
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