Reviews
"Wallach's lucidly written essay offers much food for thought, both for scholars of history and life writing and for general readers trying to recapture the flavor of the past."
—Journal of Interdisciplinary History
Description
Wallach argues that the field of autobiography studies, which is currently dominated by literary critics, needs a new theoretical framework that allows historians, too, to benefit from the interpretation of life writing. Her most provocative claim is that, due to the aesthetic power of literary language, skilled creative writers are uniquely positioned to capture the complexities of another time and another place. Through techniques such as metaphor and irony, memoirists collectively give their readers an empathetic understanding of life during the era of segregation. Although these reminiscences bear certain similarities, it becomes clear that the South as it was remembered by each is hardly the same place.
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Hardcover List price: $42.95 978-0-8203-3069-3 07/15/2008 ![]() View Shopping Cart |
Paper List price: $22.95 978-0-8203-3502-5 04/01/2010 ![]() View Shopping Cart |
Ebook List price: $22.95 978-0-8203-3702-9 2/25/2010 Check ebook availability |