Elizabeth Bidinger

The Ethics of Working Class Autobiography

Representation of Family by Four American Authors

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The ethical dimension of autobiography is emerging as an important area of study. Scholars now recognize that an autobiography must be read with an element of caution since it represents not so much the literal truth as the author's perception of people and events, a perspective sometimes unflattering to those portrayed. Focusing on the ethics of autobiography, this volume analyzes the works of four writers who spent much of their youth in working-class circumstances yet became highly educated intellectual professionals. It examines the ways in which each author confronts his or her past and how the authors represent their working-class family members. Texts discussed are Growing Up by Russell Baker (1982), Brothers and Keepers by John Edgar Wideman (1984), A Woman in Amber by Agate Nesaule (1995) and Clear Springs by Bobbie Ann Mason (1999). Each work recounts the author's struggle with a particular societal element such as gender, race, class division or region. While Baker's memoir provides an example of positive, balanced characterizations of working-class relatives, the texts by Wideman, Nesaule and Mason illustrate the ethical pitfalls in portraying less powerful family members in one's life story. An overview of trends in working-class autobiography and a brief survey regarding the critical reception of each work are included.

---

Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: McFarland
• Seitenzahl: 214
• Erscheinungstermin: 5. Juli 2006
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 13mm
• Gewicht: 355g
• ISBN-13: 9780786425761
• ISBN-10: 0786425768
• Artikelnr.: 21041572

Autorenporträt

Elizabeth Bidinger lives in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Inhaltsangabe

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments     
Introduction     
1. A World Apart: Working Class Autobiographers and Their Families     
2. Life with "A Formidable Woman": Russell Baker's Ethical Representations
in Growing Up     
3. Inventing the Self and the (Br)Other in John Edgar Wideman's Brothers
and Keepers     
4. Autobiography as Healing: Agate Nesaule's A Woman in Amber     
5. "My Folks and Their Country Culture": Inventing Authenticity in Bobbie
Ann Mason's Clear Springs     
Conclusion     
Works Cited     
Index