Kingston, Maxine Hong - Kingston As Studied
Kingston As Studied
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WRITING
When they were first published, both The Woman Warrior and China Men attracted a great deal of attention from critics who study autobiography. Kingston’s work has altered the nature of this genre, which had before been defined by classic works of American literature such as Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, the first complete edition of which was published in 1868. Classic autobiography tells the life story of some notable individual, someone whose life has been particularly significant in political or historical terms. The story develops chrono-logically, from earliest memories and childhood experiences through the mature achievements, in some cases ending with an account of the circumstances that led the subject to write his or her life story. Kingston’s autobiographical work is obviously quite different from this classical model. Her subject does not possess obvious...
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