Search

Recent studies of fictionality within narrative theory have emphasized the permeability between global fictions and nonfictions. That is, global nonfictions often deploy elements of local fictionality without compromising their global commitments. This paper seeks to contribute to this ongoing exploration by arguing that nonfictional illness narratives deploy fictionality to enrich their referential content. I examine Brian Fies' graphic memoir Mom's Cancer , emphasizing how the text utilizes fictionality to address the complicated question of how to narrate the illness experience of others. I also move beyond the particulars of Mom's Cancer to consider (a) how the graphic medium lends itself to the inventions of fictionality, (b) why authors of illness narrative often turn to the indirections of fictionality to come to terms with the actual experiences of illness, and c) how a rhetorical understanding of fictionality can help answer recent challenges to the role of narrative studies in the medical humanities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses Helena Shvarts's book of short stories Literary Tours (2000), the origin and functional patterns of mythopoetic intertexts there in the paradigm of specific Russian Women's fiction in the context of postmodern ethics and aesthetics: like other contemporary women-writers, Shvarts utilizes intertextuality and myths, biblical symbols and cultural code to be recognized by attentive readers. Fiction and non-fiction are overlapped in these memoirs which is typical of Russian Women's writing as well, so episodes from the author's own biography could be a fruitful soil for investigation the Myth as it is, in which oriental and western traditions and philosophies are intertwined. In Helena Shvarts's poetic conception of the world a cross-cultural dialog between different types of civilizations (East and West) or/and archaic resources of modern European mentality had always been a fundamental basis of the narrative. Literary Tours represents a multileveled cultural utopia, in which Ancient Greek, Ancient Egyptian, Scandinavian and Taoist myths not only coexist peacefully in consciousness of a Poet as a representative of Gods, but also have an influence on the modern reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the process and outcome of a collaborative life writing project about the death of a parent. Aiming to discover whether collaborative creative nonfiction writing can broaden the representation of experiences of grief and address some of the ethical challenges of writing about vulnerable others, we draw on the scholarship on memoir writing and collaboration and analyse our own process and challenges against this literature. We also identify some of the benefits of collaboratively writing about a recent and personal grief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to study the linguistic layer of the memoir-writing genre primarily as an exploration of linguistic mentality of a person (linguistic person, character), through which both the human being and the social environment become recognisable. This research describes the conceptual framework of the linguistic structure of the literary nonfiction by employing the following two principles: definition of the linguistic complexity of text-writing techniques and presentation of the aesthetic value of these texts. A number of descriptive, stylistic and structural methods employed in the study show that memoir writing undergoes significant changes and enriches itself through various linguistic forms and internal conceptual frameworks. The author's presence in the text is often manifested through its original word structure primarily expressed in the common stylistic system of the work. References to time and places in texts present non-fiction character in a new light. The writer's primary goal is not enriching the literary language, but ensuring the composition's linguistic authenticity and individuality. The flexibility of the genre is enhanced by intertextual manifestations. Lastly, memoir-writing may have a therapeutic effect on the author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper takes as its starting point the memoirs of a French sergeant who took part in Napoleon's Moscow campaign. After discussion of a number of war narratives from World Wars I and II, it brings out two features. The first is that the vast majority of these do not belong to the genre of fiction. The memoir form has been seen as more appropriate. The second feature is that the mode of narration used, both in fiction and non-fiction, has been that of literary realism, hence the title 'The Mimetic Imperative'. The paper goes on to discuss aspects of realism, such as attacks on it as being no more than 'reportage', the denigrating of the 'Reality Effect', and the 'Chaotic Fallacy', of assuming that the chaotic aspects of modern war can be replicated in a written text with war as its subject-matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A journalist who wrote an exploration of romantic obsession using techniques of memoir and reporting reflects on the ethics of her decision not to interview or contact the man who was the object of her obsession. The analysis utilises deontology, teleology and Rawl's Veil of Ignorance, along with contemporary critiques of first-person journalism and the authority of memoir, to conclude that memoir is inherently unfair and incomplete, putting it at odds with the aims and objectives of journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the confessional pages of her memoirs Prozac Nation and More, Now, Again and in the meditations on popular culture that characterise her journalism and non-fiction, Elizabeth Wurtzel's writing demonstrates a consistent emphasis on images of iconic rebellion. Recognising the ways these patterns mesh with her wider focus on addiction and depression, this article situates Wurtzel's vision of outsiderdom in relation to cool's often explicitly masculine discourses and moves from there to demonstrate the extent to which the focus on cool lifestyles informs her representations of addiction and depression. In terms that connect the cultural with the psychological, 'Uncomfortably numb' illuminates not just Wurtzel's writing and the patterns that shape the interpretation of cool, but the nature of the way a depressive self is narrated, negotiated and understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An artistic interpretation of historical facts is quite relevant in the literature and non-fiction of a post-totalitarian society. Prose works on historical themes are valuable and interesting in that they create an illusion for readers to be present in a certain period of historical time, and it is the artistic modeling of events that makes priceless facts of history completely disappear. The historical past is an inexhaustible material that word artists have been referring to for centuries, creating the best examples of fiction. Prose texts of historical subjects are perceived by each next generation in a new way, historical events and phenomena are interpreted from different angles, the activities of famous figures of the past are widely covered. Non-fiction literature is a kind of literature that is on the verge of artistry and documentary. The main non-fiction genres are a diary, autobiography, biography, memoirs, confession, letters, etc. On the one hand, non-fiction literature claims to recognize the author's subjective truth about him in her texts; on the other hand, only the reader can either, demonstrating full confidence in the author, call this text documentary, or admit the presence of poetry and aesthetics in the work and tilt the scales in the direction of artistry. The material for observation and research of the phenomenon of artistic modeling are works that allow us to trace the most common, in our opinion, models of correlation of historical and artistic consciousness in postmodern literature and non-fiction of a post-totalitarian society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes how one teacher implemented a memoir genre study in her sixth grade classroom using a writing workshop approach. It begins by outlining the author's philosophy and rationale for teaching writing in this manner. This is followed by a discussion of how one could organize one's classroom for a memoir genre study. Several significant mini-lessons are then described which focus on brainstorming, planning, developing effective titles, leads and conclusions, structuring a memoir texts, the use of the senses in memoir writing and strategies for revision. The aim of this article is to equip practitioners with the practical knowledge they need if they are seeking to implement a memoir genre study in their elementary school classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]