Prophets of Past Time (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Carl Dawson
- First Published: 1988
- Type of Work: Literary history and criticism
- Genres: Criticism, Nonfiction
- Subjects: History, Memory, Authors or writers, Writing, Identity, Literary criticism
Although biography as a literary genre has enjoyed a long and distinguished history and criticism, autobiography is a relative newcomer as the object of critical inquiry. In the 1970's and 1980's, however, the notion that autobiography is a distinct genre that deserves its own critical theory and inquiry became firmly established, leading to a considerable library of studies. As a genre, autobiography shares certain features with fiction: character, setting, and narrative structure or “plot.” From another perspective, however, autobiography may be regarded as a species of history,...
[The entire page is 2136 words long]
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