Hi Class,

Today, we will examine another theory of reading life writing.

Margo Culley is Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is the editor of American Women’s Autobiography: Fea(s)ts of Memory and the author of A Day at a Time: The Diary Literature of American Women 1704 — Present.  Several of her points form a nice balance to Gusdorf’s ideas.

Three Main Points from Culley’s A Day at a Time :

1. Virtually every aspect of Colonial and Industrial life was written about in Diaries, so we have an excellent set of records about daily life, if only we spend the time to read closely.

2. Diaries and journals explore, especially, the constraints of American life on certain individuals, especially women and men who were not in power.

3. The transition from a Colonial outpost to an industrial nation altered the function and form of life writing:

Pre-Civil War:                                                     Post Civil War:

Self Examination                                               Self Invention

Spiritual Journey                                             Journey of the Ego

Social history is central                                 Individual Analysis is central

Small Audiences read/heard                       Larger audiences read–rise of publishing industry

Homework: Read Adams and Antin for Tuesday, March 4th.