So how to do it? The old adage "show, don't tell" applies in creating the narrative "I" in memoir as much as in fiction. This is a dangerous line to walk, and the writer who goes too far stands the chance of losing all authority and being disregarded. Furthermore, while they diminish the trust of the reader in the author-as-narrator, they strengthen the reader's trust in the author-as-writer: in a genre rocked by scandal, the writer who admits her own faults seems more reliable than the writer who presents herself as perfect. By highlighting their own bias and doubt, they are presenting a more honest depiction of life. Like the original postmodernists, they are interested in exploring those areas where the metanarrative of truth is at best useless, and at worst, stands in the way of actual comprehension. They are not trying to report on their lives from the outside, but rather, to replicate for the reader the experience of living them. They are consciously creating books in which the unreliable narrator is themselves. For these authors, it is not enough to assume that readers acknowledge the unknowability of objective fact. They mimicked the linguistic playfulness of these earlier authors, but with an entirely different intention: instead of breaking language apart and looking for its purest form, they used words to undermine meaning, and embraced the ironic.Īs the children raised in this chaotic literary moment begin to write their memoirs, it is not surprising that they are looking to recreate this sense of confusion.
They found inspiration in the formal experimentations of the great modernist writers, like Gertrude Stein and James Joyce. They wrote books like Joseph Heller's Catch-22, in which the impossible brushed up against the all-too-real. Authors tried to replicate for their readers the state of not knowing what was true or good. The brutality of war tested the belief in perfection and progress. In the aftermath of World-War-II, the entire concept of truth in literature came under question. But is it possible for writers who perceive the world as a collection of competing truths, where the "real" answer may never be known, to honestly write a work of nonfiction? And if so, what would it look like? For these writers, truth is simply a marketing ploy, and readers are right to feel angry and manipulated. These are not books that play with objective truth in order to better recreate the author's subjective experience, but ones that toss the truth aside entirely for the author's gain. Every year, another sensational memoir is released, only to be torn apart by investigative journalists-and rightfully so. There is no greater proof of the unease this duality creates than the constant battle over what constitutes truth in nonfiction. On the one hand, it is reportage, expected to convey facts on the other, it is art, expected to reinvent the world. Like the artistic child born to scientific parents, it defies expectations. … is based on a real-life, factual event/experience … reveals the feelings of the writer about that particular experience … illustrates what the writer has learned from the event/experienceĪ Memoir … … uses many elements common to fictional storytelling (plot, characters, setting, theme, tone, symbolism, etc.As the children raised in this chaotic literary moment begin to write their memoirs, it is not surprising that they are looking to recreate this sense of confusion.Īs the literary descendent of biography and journalism, it is no wonder that memoir (as a genre), has a rocky relationship with the truth.
In a memoir, the writer also focuses on his/her feelings about the event, illustrating any lessons learned from the experience.ģ a description of your memory of a past eventĬharacteristics A Memoir is … a description of your memory of a past eventĤ Characteristics A Memoir … … is written in 1st-person point of view It is written in 1st-person point of view, using as many real and factual details as possible. A memoir uses detailed imagery to capture a memorable event or experience from the writer’s past.
#MEMOIR CHARACTERISTICS FULL#
2 What is a Memoir? A memoir is a type of autobiographical writing, but it is usually shorter than a full autobiography of someone’s entire life.
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