711 lines
15 KiB
HTML
711 lines
15 KiB
HTML
<!doctype html>
|
||
<html lang="en">
|
||
<head>
|
||
<meta charset="utf-8">
|
||
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
|
||
<title>On the Truth Value of Memoir</title>
|
||
<meta name="description" content="The long-running and erratically updated blog of Kathleen Fitzpatrick.">
|
||
<link rel="alternate" href="feed/feed.xml" type="application/atom+xml" title="kfitz">
|
||
<script async="" src="https://talk.hyvor.com/embed/embed.js" type="module"></script>
|
||
<link rel="webmention" href="https://webmention.io/kfitz.info/webmention">
|
||
<link rel="pingback" href="https://webmention.io/kfitz.info/xmlrpc">
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<style>/**
|
||
* okaidia theme for JavaScript, CSS and HTML
|
||
* Loosely based on Monokai textmate theme by http://www.monokai.nl/
|
||
* @author ocodia
|
||
*/
|
||
|
||
code[class*="language-"],
|
||
pre[class*="language-"] {
|
||
color: #f8f8f2;
|
||
background: none;
|
||
text-shadow: 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
|
||
font-family: Consolas, Monaco, 'Andale Mono', 'Ubuntu Mono', monospace;
|
||
font-size: 1em;
|
||
text-align: left;
|
||
white-space: pre;
|
||
word-spacing: normal;
|
||
word-break: normal;
|
||
word-wrap: normal;
|
||
line-height: 1.5;
|
||
|
||
-moz-tab-size: 4;
|
||
-o-tab-size: 4;
|
||
tab-size: 4;
|
||
|
||
-webkit-hyphens: none;
|
||
-moz-hyphens: none;
|
||
-ms-hyphens: none;
|
||
hyphens: none;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Code blocks */
|
||
pre[class*="language-"] {
|
||
padding: 1em;
|
||
margin: .5em 0;
|
||
overflow: auto;
|
||
border-radius: 0.3em;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
:not(pre) > code[class*="language-"],
|
||
pre[class*="language-"] {
|
||
background: #272822;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Inline code */
|
||
:not(pre) > code[class*="language-"] {
|
||
padding: .1em;
|
||
border-radius: .3em;
|
||
white-space: normal;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.comment,
|
||
.token.prolog,
|
||
.token.doctype,
|
||
.token.cdata {
|
||
color: #8292a2;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.punctuation {
|
||
color: #f8f8f2;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.namespace {
|
||
opacity: .7;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.property,
|
||
.token.tag,
|
||
.token.constant,
|
||
.token.symbol,
|
||
.token.deleted {
|
||
color: #f92672;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.boolean,
|
||
.token.number {
|
||
color: #ae81ff;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.selector,
|
||
.token.attr-name,
|
||
.token.string,
|
||
.token.char,
|
||
.token.builtin,
|
||
.token.inserted {
|
||
color: #a6e22e;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.operator,
|
||
.token.entity,
|
||
.token.url,
|
||
.language-css .token.string,
|
||
.style .token.string,
|
||
.token.variable {
|
||
color: #f8f8f2;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.atrule,
|
||
.token.attr-value,
|
||
.token.function,
|
||
.token.class-name {
|
||
color: #e6db74;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.keyword {
|
||
color: #66d9ef;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.regex,
|
||
.token.important {
|
||
color: #fd971f;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.important,
|
||
.token.bold {
|
||
font-weight: bold;
|
||
}
|
||
.token.italic {
|
||
font-style: italic;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.token.entity {
|
||
cursor: help;
|
||
}
|
||
/*
|
||
* New diff- syntax
|
||
*/
|
||
|
||
pre[class*="language-diff-"] {
|
||
--eleventy-code-padding: 1.25em;
|
||
padding-left: var(--eleventy-code-padding);
|
||
padding-right: var(--eleventy-code-padding);
|
||
}
|
||
.token.deleted {
|
||
background-color: hsl(0, 51%, 37%);
|
||
color: inherit;
|
||
}
|
||
.token.inserted {
|
||
background-color: hsl(126, 31%, 39%);
|
||
color: inherit;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Make the + and - characters unselectable for copy/paste */
|
||
.token.prefix.unchanged,
|
||
.token.prefix.inserted,
|
||
.token.prefix.deleted {
|
||
-webkit-user-select: none;
|
||
user-select: none;
|
||
display: inline-flex;
|
||
align-items: center;
|
||
justify-content: center;
|
||
padding-top: 2px;
|
||
padding-bottom: 2px;
|
||
}
|
||
.token.prefix.inserted,
|
||
.token.prefix.deleted {
|
||
width: var(--eleventy-code-padding);
|
||
background-color: rgba(0,0,0,.2);
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Optional: full-width background color */
|
||
.token.inserted:not(.prefix),
|
||
.token.deleted:not(.prefix) {
|
||
display: block;
|
||
margin-left: calc(-1 * var(--eleventy-code-padding));
|
||
margin-right: calc(-1 * var(--eleventy-code-padding));
|
||
text-decoration: none; /* override del, ins, mark defaults */
|
||
color: inherit; /* override del, ins, mark defaults */
|
||
}
|
||
/* This is an arbitrary CSS string added to the bundle */
|
||
/* Defaults */
|
||
@font-face {
|
||
font-family: "Atkinson Hyperlegible";
|
||
src: url('/css/files/atkinson-hyperlegible-latin-400-normal.woff2') format('woff2');
|
||
font-display: swap;
|
||
}
|
||
@font-face {
|
||
font-family: "Atkinson Hyperlegible";
|
||
font-weight: bold;
|
||
src: url('/css/files/atkinson-hyperlegible-latin-700-normal.woff2') format('woff2');
|
||
font-display: swap;
|
||
}
|
||
@font-face {
|
||
font-family: "Atkinson Hyperlegible";
|
||
font-style: italic
|
||
src: url('/css/files/atkinson-hyperlegible-latin-400-italic.woff2') format('woff2');
|
||
font-display: swap;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
:root {
|
||
--font-family: "Atkinson Hyperlegible", -apple-system, system-ui, sans-serif;
|
||
--font-family-monospace: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, Andale Mono WT, Andale Mono, Lucida Console, Lucida Sans Typewriter, DejaVu Sans Mono, Bitstream Vera Sans Mono, Liberation Mono, Nimbus Mono L, Courier New, Courier, monospace;
|
||
font-size: 18px;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Theme colors */
|
||
:root {
|
||
--color-gray-20: #e0e0e0;
|
||
--color-gray-50: #C0C0C0;
|
||
--color-gray-90: #333;
|
||
|
||
--background-color: #fff;
|
||
|
||
--text-color: var(--color-gray-90);
|
||
--text-color-link: #d61d4a;
|
||
--text-color-link-active: #853439;
|
||
--text-color-link-visited: #e8325e;
|
||
|
||
--syntax-tab-size: 2;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
|
||
:root {
|
||
--color-gray-20: #e0e0e0;
|
||
--color-gray-50: #C0C0C0;
|
||
--color-gray-90: #dad8d8;
|
||
|
||
/* --text-color is assigned to --color-gray-_ above */
|
||
--text-color-link: #1493fb;
|
||
--text-color-link-active: #6969f7;
|
||
--text-color-link-visited: #a6a6f8;
|
||
|
||
--background-color: #15202b;
|
||
}
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
|
||
/* Global stylesheet */
|
||
* {
|
||
box-sizing: border-box;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
@view-transition {
|
||
navigation: auto;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
html,
|
||
body {
|
||
padding: 0;
|
||
margin: 0 auto;
|
||
font-family: var(--font-family);
|
||
color: var(--text-color);
|
||
background-color: var(--background-color);
|
||
}
|
||
html {
|
||
overflow-y: scroll;
|
||
}
|
||
body {
|
||
max-width: 40em;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* https://www.a11yproject.com/posts/how-to-hide-content/ */
|
||
.visually-hidden {
|
||
clip: rect(0 0 0 0);
|
||
clip-path: inset(50%);
|
||
height: 1px;
|
||
overflow: hidden;
|
||
position: absolute;
|
||
white-space: nowrap;
|
||
width: 1px;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
p:last-child {
|
||
margin-bottom: 0;
|
||
}
|
||
p {
|
||
line-height: 1.5;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
li {
|
||
line-height: 1.5;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
a[href] {
|
||
color: var(--text-color-link);
|
||
}
|
||
a[href]:visited {
|
||
color: var(--text-color-link-visited);
|
||
}
|
||
a[href]:hover,
|
||
a[href]:active {
|
||
color: var(--text-color-link-active);
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
main,
|
||
footer {
|
||
padding: 1rem;
|
||
}
|
||
main :first-child {
|
||
margin-top: 0;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
header {
|
||
border-bottom: 1px dashed var(--color-gray-20);
|
||
}
|
||
header:after {
|
||
content: "";
|
||
display: table;
|
||
clear: both;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
footer {
|
||
border-top: 1px dashed var(--color-gray-50);
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
.links-nextprev {
|
||
display: flex;
|
||
justify-content: space-between;
|
||
gap: .5em 1em;
|
||
list-style: "";
|
||
border-top: 1px dashed var(--color-gray-20);
|
||
padding: 1em 0;
|
||
}
|
||
.links-nextprev > * {
|
||
flex-grow: 1;
|
||
}
|
||
.links-nextprev-next {
|
||
text-align: right;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
table {
|
||
margin: 1em 0;
|
||
}
|
||
table td,
|
||
table th {
|
||
padding-right: 1em;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
pre,
|
||
code {
|
||
font-family: var(--font-family-monospace);
|
||
}
|
||
pre:not([class*="language-"]) {
|
||
margin: .5em 0;
|
||
line-height: 1.375; /* 22px /16 */
|
||
-moz-tab-size: var(--syntax-tab-size);
|
||
-o-tab-size: var(--syntax-tab-size);
|
||
tab-size: var(--syntax-tab-size);
|
||
-webkit-hyphens: none;
|
||
-ms-hyphens: none;
|
||
hyphens: none;
|
||
direction: ltr;
|
||
text-align: left;
|
||
white-space: pre;
|
||
word-spacing: normal;
|
||
word-break: normal;
|
||
overflow-x: auto;
|
||
}
|
||
code {
|
||
word-break: break-all;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Header */
|
||
header {
|
||
display: flex;
|
||
gap: 1em .5em;
|
||
flex-wrap: wrap;
|
||
align-items: center;
|
||
padding: 1em;
|
||
}
|
||
.home-link {
|
||
font-size: 1.5em; /* 16px /16 */
|
||
font-weight: 700;
|
||
margin-right: 2em;
|
||
}
|
||
.home-link:link:not(:hover) {
|
||
text-decoration: none;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Nav */
|
||
.nav {
|
||
display: flex;
|
||
padding: 0;
|
||
margin: 0;
|
||
list-style: none;
|
||
}
|
||
.nav-item {
|
||
display: inline-block;
|
||
margin-right: 1em;
|
||
}
|
||
.nav-item a[href]:not(:hover) {
|
||
text-decoration: none;
|
||
}
|
||
.nav a[href][aria-current="page"] {
|
||
text-decoration: underline;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Posts list */
|
||
.postlist {
|
||
list-style: none;
|
||
padding: 0;
|
||
padding-left: 1.5rem;
|
||
}
|
||
.postlist-item {
|
||
display: flex;
|
||
flex-wrap: wrap;
|
||
align-items: baseline;
|
||
counter-increment: start-from -1;
|
||
margin-bottom: 1em;
|
||
}
|
||
.postlist-item:before {
|
||
display: inline-block;
|
||
pointer-events: none;
|
||
content: "" counter(start-from, decimal-leading-zero) ". ";
|
||
line-height: 100%;
|
||
text-align: right;
|
||
margin-left: -1.5rem;
|
||
}
|
||
.postlist-date,
|
||
.postlist-item:before {
|
||
font-size: 0.8125em; /* 13px /16 */
|
||
color: var(--color-gray-90);
|
||
}
|
||
.postlist-date {
|
||
word-spacing: -0.5px;
|
||
}
|
||
.postlist-link {
|
||
font-size: 1.1875em; /* 19px /16 */
|
||
font-weight: 700;
|
||
flex-basis: calc(100% - 1.5rem);
|
||
padding-left: .25em;
|
||
padding-right: .5em;
|
||
text-underline-position: from-font;
|
||
text-underline-offset: 0;
|
||
text-decoration-thickness: 1px;
|
||
}
|
||
.postlist-item-active .postlist-link {
|
||
font-weight: bold;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Archive list */
|
||
.archivelist {
|
||
padding: 0;
|
||
padding-left: 2.5rem;
|
||
}
|
||
.archivelist-item {
|
||
align-items: baseline;
|
||
margin-bottom: 1em;
|
||
}
|
||
.archivelist-item::marker {
|
||
text-align: right;
|
||
margin-left: -1.5rem;
|
||
font-size: 0.8125em; /* 13px /16 */
|
||
color: var(--color-gray-90);
|
||
}
|
||
.archivelist-date {
|
||
font-size: 0.8125em; /* 13px /16 */
|
||
color: var(--color-gray-90);
|
||
word-spacing: -0.5px;
|
||
}
|
||
.archivelist-link {
|
||
font-size: 1.1875em; /* 19px /16 */
|
||
font-weight: 700;
|
||
flex-basis: calc(100% - 1.5rem);
|
||
padding-left: .25em;
|
||
padding-right: .5em;
|
||
text-underline-position: from-font;
|
||
text-underline-offset: 0;
|
||
text-decoration-thickness: 1px;
|
||
}
|
||
.archivelist-item-active .archivelist-link {
|
||
font-weight: bold;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
|
||
/* Tags */
|
||
.post-tag {
|
||
display: inline-flex;
|
||
align-items: center;
|
||
justify-content: center;
|
||
text-transform: capitalize;
|
||
font-style: italic;
|
||
}
|
||
.postlist-item > .post-tag {
|
||
align-self: center;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Tags list */
|
||
.post-metadata {
|
||
display: inline-flex;
|
||
flex-wrap: wrap;
|
||
gap: .5em;
|
||
list-style: none;
|
||
border-top: 1px dashed var(--color-gray-20);
|
||
border-bottom: 1px dashed var(--color-gray-20);
|
||
padding: 3px 0px 3px 0px;
|
||
margin: 0;
|
||
font-size: .8em;
|
||
}
|
||
.post-metadata time {
|
||
margin-right: 1em;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Direct Links / Markdown Headers */
|
||
.header-anchor {
|
||
text-decoration: none;
|
||
font-style: normal;
|
||
font-size: 1em;
|
||
margin-left: .1em;
|
||
}
|
||
a[href].header-anchor,
|
||
a[href].header-anchor:visited {
|
||
color: transparent;
|
||
}
|
||
a[href].header-anchor:focus,
|
||
a[href].header-anchor:hover {
|
||
text-decoration: underline;
|
||
}
|
||
a[href].header-anchor:focus,
|
||
:hover > a[href].header-anchor {
|
||
color: #aaa;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
h2 + .header-anchor {
|
||
font-size: 1.5em;
|
||
font-weight: bold;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
h1 {
|
||
font-weight: bolder;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
summary {
|
||
font-size: 1.5em;
|
||
font-weight: bold;
|
||
margin-bottom: .5em;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
img {
|
||
display: block;
|
||
margin-left: auto;
|
||
margin-right: auto;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
blockquote {
|
||
display: block;
|
||
margin-left: 2em;
|
||
margin-right: 3em;
|
||
padding-left: 10px;
|
||
border-left: 10px solid var(--text-color-link);
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
hr.new {
|
||
border: none;
|
||
border-top: 1px dashed var(--color-gray-50);
|
||
}
|
||
/* Webmention Section */
|
||
|
||
.webmentions {
|
||
display:block;
|
||
text-align: left;
|
||
}
|
||
.webmentions__facepile {
|
||
display:flex;
|
||
align-items: center;
|
||
flex-wrap: wrap;
|
||
}
|
||
.webmentions__face {
|
||
width: 2rem;
|
||
height: 2rem;
|
||
border-radius: 50%;
|
||
object-fit: cover;
|
||
flex: none;
|
||
}
|
||
.webmentions__list {
|
||
list-style-type: none;
|
||
padding:0;
|
||
}
|
||
.webmentions__item {
|
||
margin-bottom: 2rem;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
/* Single Webmention */
|
||
|
||
.webmention {
|
||
display:block;
|
||
}
|
||
.webmention__meta,
|
||
.webmention__author {
|
||
display: flex;
|
||
align-items: center;
|
||
flex-wrap: wrap;
|
||
}
|
||
.webmention__meta {
|
||
margin-bottom:.5rem;
|
||
}
|
||
.webmention__author {
|
||
margin-right:.25rem;
|
||
}
|
||
.webmention__author__photo {
|
||
height: 3rem;
|
||
width: 3rem;
|
||
border-radius: 50%;
|
||
object-fit: cover;
|
||
margin-right:.5rem;
|
||
}
|
||
.webmention__pubdate {
|
||
font-style: italic;
|
||
}
|
||
/* Message Box */
|
||
.message-box {
|
||
--color-message-box: #ffc;
|
||
|
||
display: block;
|
||
background-color: var(--color-message-box);
|
||
color: var(--color-gray-90);
|
||
padding: 1em 0.625em; /* 16px 10px /16 */
|
||
}
|
||
.message-box ol {
|
||
margin-top: 0;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
|
||
.message-box {
|
||
--color-message-box: #082840;
|
||
}
|
||
}</style>
|
||
</head>
|
||
<body>
|
||
<a href="#skip" class="visually-hidden">Skip to main content</a>
|
||
|
||
<header>
|
||
<a href="/" class="home-link">kfitz</a>
|
||
<nav>
|
||
<h2 class="visually-hidden" id="top-level-navigation-menu">Top level navigation menu</h2>
|
||
<ul class="nav">
|
||
<li class="nav-item"><a href="/">Home</a></li>
|
||
<li class="nav-item"><a href="/blog/">Archive</a></li>
|
||
<li class="nav-item"><a href="/about/">About</a></li>
|
||
<li class="nav-item"><a href="/projects/">Projects</a></li>
|
||
<li class="nav-item"><a href="/presentations/">Presentations</a></li>
|
||
<li class="nav-item"><a href="/teaching/">Teaching</a></li>
|
||
<li class="nav-item"><a href="/feed/feed.xml">Feed</a></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
</nav>
|
||
</header>
|
||
|
||
<link href="/pagefind/pagefind-ui.css" rel="stylesheet">
|
||
<script src="/pagefind/pagefind-ui.js"></script>
|
||
<div id="search"></div>
|
||
<script>
|
||
window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => {
|
||
new PagefindUI({ element: "#search", showSubResults: true });
|
||
});
|
||
</script>
|
||
|
||
<main id="skip">
|
||
<heading-anchors>
|
||
|
||
<h1 id="on-the-truth-value-of-memoir">On the Truth Value of Memoir</h1>
|
||
|
||
<ul class="post-metadata">
|
||
<li><time datetime="2003-08-12">12 August 2003</time></li>
|
||
<li><a href="/tags/novels/" class="post-tag">novels</a></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
<p>This <a href="http://chutry.wordherders.net/archives/000588.html">thread</a> just goes on: today on <a href="http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2003/08/12/memoir_writing/index.html" title="Salon">Salon</a> (via <a href="http://www.bookslut.com/blog/archives/2003_08.php#000483" title="Bookslut">Bookslut</a>), a memoirist accused of fabricating some of the details of her life’s narrative defends the license she took, arguing that the genre of the memoir has been mistakenly associated with journalism, and that its devices are primarily literary, not documentary:</p>
|
||
<blockquote>
|
||
<p>A memoir is a tale taken from life — that is, from actual, not imagined, occurrences — related by a first-person narrator who is undeniably the writer. Beyond these bare requirements, it has the same responsibility as the novel or the short story — to shape a piece of experience so that it moves from a tale of private interest to one with meaning for the disinterested reader. What actually happened is only raw material; what the writer makes of what happened is all that matters. As V.S. Pritchett said of the genre, “It’s all in the art, you get no credit for living.”…</p>
|
||
<p>To state the case briefly: memoirs belong to the category of literature, not of journalism. It is a misunderstanding to read a memoir as though the writer owes the reader the same record of literal accuracy that is owed in newspaper reporting or in literary journalism. What the memoirist owes the reader is the ability to persuade that the narrator is trying, as honestly as possible, to get to the bottom of the experience at hand.</p>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
<p>Such a misunderstanding suggests to me that there is some cultural assumption of truth-value in written representation that has drawn readers to the memoir as a form, an assumption that precedes the memoirs themselves, and that colors our reading of other literary forms, including the blog. I remain curious, though: where does this assumption come from?</p>
|
||
|
||
<ul class="links-nextprev"><li class="links-nextprev-prev">← Previous<br> <a href="/on-the-personal-statement/">On the 'Personal Statement'</a></li><li class="links-nextprev-next">Next →<br><a href="/the-qualifying-exam-meets-the-cult-of-personality/">The Qualifying Exam Meets the Cult of Personality</a></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
<hyvor-talk-comments website-id="9100" page-id="/on-the-truth-value-of-memoir/"></hyvor-talk-comments>
|
||
|
||
<div class="webmentions" id="webmentions">
|
||
<h3 id="webmentions-2">Webmentions</h3>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<p>No replies yet.</p>
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
|
||
|
||
</heading-anchors>
|
||
</main>
|
||
|
||
<footer>
|
||
<p><em>Built with <a href="https://www.11ty.dev/">Eleventy v3.1.0</a>. All content <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en">CC BY 4.0</a> if you're human.</em></p><p></p>
|
||
</footer>
|
||
|
||
<script type="module" src="/dist/rJ3_G-2ArF.js"></script>
|
||
</body>
|
||
</html>
|