ESSAY 3
Writing an autobiography involves a matching up of a specific plot-structure with a set of historical events. The autobiographer wishes to endow these events with a particular meaning. Some writers see this process as "essentially a literary, that is to say, fiction-making operation." The document, the autobiography, is still a historical narrative. It is one of the ways a culture has of making sense of both personal and public events. For it is not the events of a life that are reproduced through the writer's description; rather, it is a direction to think about these events, a charging of the events with "different emotional valences," that the writer produces. Of course, a writer does not like to see his work as a translation of "facts" into "fiction." But the crisis in both historical thought and in the writing of autobiography may be illumined by the insights gained from this perspective.
The ordering of events in a temporal sequence does not provide any necessary explanation of why the events occurred; for a history, an autobiography, is not only about events, it is also about possible sets of relationships, only some of which are immanent in those events. For the most part they exist in the mind of the writer and the language he or she uses. Hayden White argues that "if there is an element of the historical in all poetry, there is an element of poetry in every historical account." History is made sense of in the same way that the poet or novelist tries to make sense of it. The unfamiliar and mysterious is made familiar. Both the real and the imagined are subjected to a process aimed at making sense of reality. For this reason history often appears fictionalized and poetry often appears like reality, like history. Writers of poetry and fiction, says Hayden, impose formal coherence on the world in the same way writers of history do.
Such a view, if taken seriously, would go a long way to freeing historians from being captive of ideological preconceptions. Drawing historiography closer to its origins in literary sensibility, in the literary imagination, may help to increase understanding. For an increase in facts does not necessarily bring understanding. Chronicles of events, the sense of 'what really happened,' types of configurations of events, the emplottment of sequences of events, are determined as much by what facts are put in as what are left out and by the extent to which the writer can engage in constant currection and revision, in tireless seeking out of new information.
Aristotle saw poetry as unified, intelligible and based on the subordination of the part to the ends of the whole. History on the other hand was organized around continuity and succession, a congeries of events and is not intelligible in the same way as poetry is. He associated history with the unexpected, the uncontrollable, the unsystematic. Poetry he saw as part of an ordered and coherent schema. Poetry was, to Aristotle, a more serious, a more philosophical, business than history. It speaks of universals; history of particulars.
About the Author:
Ron Price
2.1 Articles and Reviews: Journals
1. * "A History of the Baha'i Faith in the Northern Territory: 1947-1997," Northern Lights, 25 Installments, 2000-2002.
2. * Periodic Articles, poems and letters in "Newsletters," Regional Teaching Committees of the NSA of the Baha'is of Australia Inc., 1971-2001.
3. * Periodic Articles, poems and letters, Baha'i Canada and The Australian Baha'i Bulletin, 1971-2001.
4. * "Memorials of the Faithful," Baha'i Studies Review, September 2001.
5. * "Review of Two Chapbooks: The Poetry of Tony Lee," Arts Dialogue, June 2001.
6. * "Asia and the Lost Poems: The Poetry of Anthony Lee," Art 'n Soul, a Website for Poets and Poetry, January 2000.
7. * "The Passionate Artist," Australian Baha'i Studies, Vol.2, 2000.
8. * "Memorials of the Faithful," Australian Baha'i Studies, Vol.1, No.2, 1999, p.102.
9. * "Poetry of Ron Price: An Overview," ABS Newsletter, No.38, September 1997.
10. * "Thomas a Kempis, Taherzadeh and the Day of Judgement," Forum, Vol.3, No 1, 1994, pp.1-3.
Last week I was having a quick browse on eBay... Read More
For those looking at the jobs listings for writers, they... Read More
Interested in breaking into writing or breaking into a new... Read More
Griselda spent hours polishing up her resume. No detail was... Read More
Someone once commented that there were no new ideas to... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?I have said above that if a... Read More
It is satisfying to be a part of such a... Read More
The Scanning ReaderWriting for the Web is different than writing... Read More
"No one will ever know who I am, I'm a... Read More
Based on the feedback that I have been getting from... Read More
GAINING WRITING EXPERIENCE Some Catch-22, huh? In... Read More
You wrote a tips booklet. Maybe more than one. Oh... Read More
Beyond three and four act story structure, lies the Hero's... Read More
No one is born a novel writer. But do you... Read More
As writers, we initially tend to be either more cerebral... Read More
1. Become an EavesdropperListen carefully to the way people REALLY... Read More
Think of writing like karate...it's about DISCIPLINE.Writing, like other forms... Read More
I hate to admit this, but I rarely get an... Read More
The only way to become a writer is to write.... Read More
Traditionally, business writing uses the "one thing after another" format,... Read More
If you either want to write a book to help... Read More
If you're getting rejections from your submissions, please don't quit... Read More
Open up your favorite calendar and circle today's date.Why? Because... Read More
Chances are, you'll be busy over the next several weeks.... Read More
* Scanning and Skimming Practices *Whether you're writing e-mail messages... Read More
Western Springs shuttle limo ..Writing is a personal and introspective process. To share with... Read More
One of the best ways to blow someone's winning streak... Read More
Becoming an author is probably a lot easier than you... Read More
A book coaching client recently emailed me that she was... Read More
Most books aren't rejected because the stories are "bad." They're... Read More
You have a great idea for a poem, a story,... Read More
Way back in your early school years, you were probably... Read More
Have you ever wondered why some people can make millions... Read More
First impressions count in writing too! So it is always... Read More
Did you know that your back cover information is, after... Read More
This is the ideal topic for us all to think... Read More
Dr. Phil's Life Strategies, #1 New York Times Bestseller catches... Read More
How to Come Up with Fresh Story Ideas When Your... Read More
You may not remember this, but in the early days... Read More
Proofreading worksheets are a great tool to help individuals open... Read More
Ah, the age-old writer's debate--to outline or not to outline?Outlines... Read More
Often, time is an enemy of writers. Sales seem slow... Read More
How many of you take the time to really write... Read More
Part 1 of this article discussed the experience you need... Read More
User documentation is all too often written by programmers for... Read More
You must write a hypnotic persuasion letter to help you... Read More
The process of developing a working title for your nonfiction... Read More
Rudolf Flesch, a specialist in writing skills, ran classes... Read More
Have you ever written a letter to a friend? Ever... Read More
And a dreadful thing from the cliff did spring, and... Read More
Writing |