Feb
26
Proposed paper topics: Three ideas
February 26, 2015 | 4 Comments
Hi all. I’m playing with three paper topics.
The first I mentioned in class: A consideration of the choices that feminist writers make between intimate storytelling and preservation of their loved ones’ privacy. Like we saw with Woolf, there are good reasons for feminist writers to tell intimate stories, particularly intimate stories about their lives with men. I think of this as an ethic of exposure – exposing what’s been rendered private or secret for emotional catharsis and/or cultural change. But there are also good ethical reasons to maintain the privacy of their personal relations and relationships. How and when do feminist writers make these choices, and what are the ethical considerations involved? Implicit in this question is another: When does one person cease to be the sole owner of their experience? The reading would be feminist poets like Audre Lorde, Sylvia Plath, Dorothy Allison, Adrienne Rich, Sharon Olds and Anne Sexton. I am drawn to this question for personal as well as academic reasons: As a writer, I have been on a trajectory of writing increasingly exposed and exposing personal stories, but have wondered about the implications for my loved ones. It would be useful to see how feminist writers have navigated this question before me.
Second idea is an examination of works that merge memoir with cultural criticism, reflecting on how the authors’ acts of (over)sharing allow for deeper, more nuanced, and more urgent cultural analysis. I’m thinking of texts like Hilton Als’s “Tristes Tropiques”, Kate Zambreno’s Heroines, and Jana Leo’s Rape New York. This is also a personal and academic interest, as these are the kinds of essays I (try to) write.
Third is a look at fictionalized memoirs/fictions based on life that expose the authors’ intimate selves. I’m interested how the fictionalization of life writing creates space for (over)sharing – for more personal and vulnerable storytelling that pushes the boundaries of the acceptable. Reading might be Sheila Heti’s How Should a Person Be?, Chris Kraus’s I Love Dick, and Jo Ann Beard’s The Boys of My Youth.
I obviously have some narrowing to do! Very open to thoughts and reactions.
— Destry
Comments
4 Comments so far
The following comments are just based on my perceptions. Out of the three topics you mentioned, it seems that the second topic has the most to do with oversharing. Your first and third topics seem to be concerned more with ‘the self’. However, your first topic mentioned ‘secrecy.’ I think I am advocating a synthesis of concerns mentioned in your first and second topics. The concern of secrecy seems to relate to Claudia Mills’ article and the Kantian dilemma that exists between transparency and secrecy. (Kant was probably an advocate of transparency.) Perhaps you can relate oversharing to the need for social connections and effective communication. The Claudia Mills’ article, for instance, made reference to Immanuel Kants’ Elements of Ethics in its bibliography; perhaps you can read that to get a fuller sense of his argument for transparency. Perhaps you may want to write a paper arguing that people need to overshare to be effective communicators in society.
P.S. I think that the topic of oversharing has more to do with individual concerns than societal concerns. It might be a better idea to just focus on one author and argue that that person needed to overshare and be transparent to relate her concerns to other people.
Hey Destry! All three of these topics sound amazing (…and many of the books you mentioned here have rocketed right to the top of my reading list…). I was thinking that with regard to the first topic, Emily Gould might be a really interesting case for you to look at. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of her actual writing, but I think that the way she’s navigated disclosure vs. memoir in different arenas (working at Gawker, published memoir, New York Times Magazine cover story, various interviews like Julie Klausner’s podcast this summer, a novel, reactions to critics reactions to that novel, etc.) could be a good case to explore. Plus, she’s been very open in quite a few places about gendered criticism of her and her writing. Just a thought!
John Paul and Kathy — Thanks so much for your thoughts! Kathy, I’m grateful for the reading suggestion. Excited to check out Emily Gould. Let me know if you end up reading any of the books listed here. Many of them are personal favorites or at the top of my read-soon list.
I can only echo what has been said before…all of these topics sound great…and I think it is a matter of just continuing to think for a week or two and see where your contemplations lead you. Sometimes the challenge lies in the fact that you cannot pursue all of your ideas, so you have to make hard choices & realize that you can always pursue promising ideas in later projects.