This course will examine the genre of autobiography- the account of the author’s own life- in both historical and contemporary texts.
Topics to be examined will included: the creation and discovery of a self or social identity doubles or complementary selves; reliable and unreliable narration; the self-fashioning of the artist or writer; metaphors for the inscription of identity, e.g. portraits and confessions. A variety of critical approaches will be considered (eg. Rhetoric, allegory, cultural specificity, close textual analysis). The objectives of the course will be to enable students to engage with major texts in the genre of autobiography, and to acquire the critical skills for interpreting those works.
Course credit exclusions: AP/EN 4161 6.00
