scholarly journals Resistances to Autobiography: The Indian Experiment with life-writing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanghamitra Sadhu ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life Writing ◽  
The Self ◽  
Theoretical Standpoint ◽  
Indian Epistemology

The article underlines that the epistemology of the self and the practice of life-writing in India marks a departure from the Western conventions and modes of expression. Although there are resistances to autobiography from the Western theoretical standpoint, the genre meets with a twofold resistance in postcolonial milieu in its negotiation with the Indian metaphysics of self. Autobiography in decolonising India negotiates complex pathways between an ardent adherence to Indian epistemology and a potent resistance to the Western modes of writing the self. In a framework to understand the phenomenon of resistance implicit in autobiography in general and the internal resistances to autobiography manifest in the genre during decolonisation in particular, the article argues that such resistances within the genre have redefined the very idea of the self in writing, generated a nuanced notion of the self in narration, as well as challenged the process of writing the self in decolonisation.

The Relationship between Seeker and Spiritual Guide as portrayed in contemporary Western Sufi Autobiographies

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-332
Author(s):  
Kate Zebiri
Keyword(s):  
Life Writing ◽  
New Age ◽  
The Self ◽  
Individual Autonomy ◽  
Religious Authority ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Continuity And Discontinuity

This article aims to explore the Shaykh-mur?d (disciple) or teacher-pupil relationship as portrayed in Western Sufi life writing in recent decades, observing elements of continuity and discontinuity with classical Sufism. Additionally, it traces the influence on the texts of certain developments in religiosity in contemporary Western societies, especially New Age understandings of religious authority. Studying these works will provide an insight into the diversity of expressions of contemporary Sufism, while shedding light on a phenomenon which seems to fly in the face of contemporary social and religious trends which deemphasize external authority and promote the authority of the self or individual autonomy.

scholarly journals Romancing the Self in Early Modern Englishwomen's Life Writing

Prose Studies ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-308
Author(s):  
Natasha Simonova
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
The Self

scholarly journals A Revival of Life Writing Genres in Language Pedagogy Settings: The Case of Diary Writing

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (2 (4)) ◽  
pp. 78-92
Author(s):  
Elena Xeni
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
Written Language ◽  
The Self ◽  
Literary Genre ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Diary Writing ◽  
Writing Genres

The article discusses a number of issues contributing to the efficient teaching of a foreign language. Studying Diary Writing as a unique literary genre (a text disclosing the self of the author) the author of the article believes it is very important that students should have diaries since such an assignment highly contributes to the improvement of a written language.

Coptic Life Stories

2020 ◽  
pp. 416-429
Author(s):  
Arietta Papaconstantinou
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
The Self ◽  
General Lack ◽  
True Source

This chapter highlights Coptic life-writing; identifying its various strands and forms can open new avenues for the analysis of Coptic literature. On the whole, the rise of the biographic that has been noted more generally for Late Antiquity is greatly felt in Coptic texts, perhaps even more strongly than in other languages as a proportion of the overall production. In many ways, the impulses of classical biography can be found in Coptic texts: they are used to define morality, provide examples, obtain adherence, persuade, justify, or legitimize. From the self-denying exemplum to the incredible superhero whose adventures inspired a mix of entertainment, suspense, and fear, the range of admirable individuals was broad. What brings all of those life stories together is their general lack of individuality in the characterization. The stress of these stories is on the authority embedded in a number of exemplary individuals, and the true source of that authority comes from conformity to a model and a set of received criteria. Accordingly, the genre is not at all introspective, despite the meta-discourse on introspection that pervades the ascetic biographies.

About A Life: Writing from the Self

Wordsmithery ◽  
2007 ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
George Green
Keyword(s):  
Life Writing ◽  
The Self

‘She Did but Take up Old Stories’: Generic Fluidity and Women‘s Life Writing of the Early Eighteenth Century

2014 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Joule
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
The Self ◽  
Autobiographical Writing ◽  
Flexible Approach ◽  
Literary Forms ◽  
Jane Barker ◽  
Early Eighteenth Century

In this article I demonstrate the significance of a flexible approach to examining the autobiographical in early eighteenth-century womens writing. Using ‘old stories’, existing and developing narrative and literary forms, womens autobiographical writing can be discovered in places other than the more recognizable forms such as diaries and memoirs. Jane Barker and Delarivier Manley‘s works are important examples of the dynamic and creative use of cross-genre autobiographical writing. The integration of themselves in their fictional and poetic works demonstrates the potential of generic fluidity for innovative ways to express and explore the self in textual forms.

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