Does the 'genre' of autobiography go through phases and fads like any other genre? I was always under the impression that an autobiography was simply a truly spoken narrative or series of memoirs regarding one's life. while this is generally accepted as true, I wasn't aware that there were multiple styles of an autobiography. In this essay Russel talks of a "new autobiography" which is an ethnographic analysis of ones history in society and how it relates to the author. I have observed this "new autobiography" in books such as "A Long Way Gone - Memoirs of a boy soldier" by Ishmael Beah. But why is it that this is the new autobiography? Hasn't it ALWAYS been of importance to analyze one's history in society and how it plays a part in their lives today? What about this is "new"?
Perhaps this is only the new standard for autobiography -- What we as people need to see in 2015. Making the ethnographic autobiography the new autobiography may leave us more room to understand the worldly community.
Luke Peterson
No comments:
Post a Comment