Against redemption: The dilemma of memoir
The pressure for commercially published memoirs to offer a tragedy-to-triumph redemptive arc is exacerbated when the memoir is about disability. I explore how I attempted to contest this narrative arc, using a thematic rather than chronological approach and adopting the personal essay form. I also u...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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University of Canberra
2012
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| Online Access: | http://www.axonjournal.com.au/issue-2/against-redemption-dilemma-memoir http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13349 |
| Summary: | The pressure for commercially published memoirs to offer a tragedy-to-triumph redemptive arc is exacerbated when the memoir is about disability. I explore how I attempted to contest this narrative arc, using a thematic rather than chronological approach and adopting the personal essay form. I also unpack the role of metaphor in representing a disability such as autism and the complexities of writing from a socio-cultural (rather than symbolic or medical) paradigm of disability. I examine one of the key dilemmas of writing a relational memoir and the creative judgements that the author must make. |
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