Memory and Narrative: The Weave of Life-WritingMemory and Narrative presents an elegant, authoritative account of how life-writing has changed over time to arrive at its present form. James Olney, one of the most distinguished scholars of autobiography, tells the story of an evolving literary form that originated in the autobiographical writings of St. Augustine, underwent profound changes in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's life-writing trilogy, and found a momentary conclusion in the work of Samuel Beckett. "This is an elegant work of scholarship." —Jason Berry, Chicago Tribune "Examines how the fascinating, reciprocal relationship between memory and narrative has evolved over the course of 17 centuries. . . . Olney's work is a valuable companion to his subjects' primary texts." —Booklist |
Contents
Memory and the Narrative Imperative | 1 |
FIRST INTERLUDE | 85 |
JeanJacques Rousseau and the Crisis of Narrative | 101 |
Narrative | 271 |
Common terms and phrases
Alberto Giacometti amour de soi artist Augustine Augustine's Augustinian autobiography Beckettian beginning believe called claim Cohen Company Conf Confessions course dark Dialogues earlier emotion everything experience father feeling fiction figure French Frenchman Genesis Godot greatcoat hand heart human Ill Seen Ill imagine impossible Irish Jean-Jacques Rousseau Kafka kind Krapp Krapp's Last Tape language life-writing Malone Malone Dies Masters/Kelly means memory and narrative Mercier and Camier mind Molloy narrator nature never once passage past perhaps person phrase Pléiade preamble present pronoun psalm question reader reading recall remember Reveries Rous Rousseau says Rousseau writes Saint-Lô Samuel Beckett Science seau seems sense sentence soul speak Stirrings story tells things thought tion told trans translation Trilogy Trinity truth turn understanding unique Unnamable Vico Vico's voice Waiting for Godot Watt whole words Worstward Ho Yeats