Memoir

Catalog description

What does it mean to put a life story on the page? How does memory shape the present, and vice versa? What stories resonate in memoir, and why is it such a popular genre? This course will address these questions through reading memoir, a genre that became widely popular in the late Twentieth Century but that has deep historical roots. We will explore the questions it raises primarily through reading contemporary memoirs by writers such as Primo Levi, Maxine Hong Kingston, Michael Ondaatje, Alison Bechdel, and others. (ENGL-PST)