This class explores the autobiography as a form of both personal and political expression. We begin by complicating, questioning and demystifying the divide between the personal and political by linking personal stories and histories with narratives of broader social structures, such as capitalism, patriarchy, slavery, and colonialism. We will read autobiographies from diverse sources, including letters, quasi-fictionalized autobiographies, poetry, and autobiographies of political activists. We will also engage with theories of social structure and agency in order to theorize the interface between personal experience and political agency.
In this course, we will view the autobiography as a vehicle for making personal experience something that is politically significant. The autobiography, one could say, births political agency, hence our course title, “Autobiography as Political Agency.” Therefore, we are reading autobiographies to think about how the autobiography as a form creates possibilities for both individual and collective agency.
Application: Spring-2023-Application-Inside-Out-CHC-431H-Autobiography-as-Political-Agency-1