The limits of autobiography : trauma and testimony / Leigh Gilmore.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gilmore, Leigh, 1959- author.

Series:

Cornell scholarship online.

Cornell scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- Written on the body.

Winterson, Jeanette.

Kincaid, Jamaica--Criticism and interpretation.

Kincaid, Jamaica.

Allison, Dorothy, 1949-2024. Bastard out of Carolina.

Allison, Dorothy.

Gilmore, Mikal. Shot in the heart.

Gilmore, Mikal.

American prose literature--20th century--History and criticism.

American prose literature.

Autobiography.

English prose literature--20th century--History and criticism.

English prose literature.

Autobiographical fiction--History and criticism.

Autobiographical fiction.

First person narrative.

Self in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (185 pages)

Edition:

with a new preface

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2024.

Summary:

In 'The Limits of Autobiography', Leigh Gilmore analyzes texts that depict trauma by combining elements of autobiography, fiction, biography, history, and theory in ways that challenge the constraints of autobiography. Astute and compelling readings of works by Michel Foucault, Louis Althusser, Dorothy Allison, Mikal Gilmore, Jamaica Kincaid, and Jeanette Winterson explore how each poses the questions 'How have I lived?' and 'How will I live?' in relation to the social and psychic forms within which trauma emerges. First published in 2001, this edition of one of the foundational texts in trauma studies includes a new preface by the author that assesses the gravitational pull between life writing and trauma in the twenty-first century, a tension that continues to produce innovative and artful means of confronting kinship, violence, and self-representation.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface to the 2023 Edition

Introduction: The Limits of Autobiography

1. Represent Yourself

2. Bastard Testimony

3. There Will Always Be a Father

4. There Will Always Be a Mother

5. Without Names

Conclusion: The Knowing Subject and an Alternative Jurisprudence of Trauma

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

This edition previously issued in print: 2023.

Previous edition: 2001.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and publisher information.

ISBN:

9781501770784

1501770780

9781501770791

1501770799

OCLC:

1415748271