Storying the Social Self: Life Narratives of Artists and Their Communities
What role does storytelling play in the development of the private and public self?
We all share stories or even imagine ourselves as the audience for our internal meditations. We share life experiences through conversations, email, social media, and other forms of communication. Many of us write about our experiences in diaries or journals to track our lives, record travel, work out problems, and find solutions. More importantly, we often find special connections and inspiring points of commonality by reading writers who disclose their inner lives through public platforms such as autobiography, literary essays, confessional poetry, Youtube vlogs, or music videos.
In this section of English 100, we will read fiction, memoir, poetry, and a graphic novel that explore the development of a creative persona that often resists social restrictions. The narrators of these coming-of-age life narratives confront and challenge oppressive social judgements and restrictions based on class, gender, race, and normative embodiment.
In addition to the primary readings, we will study theories of narrative and scholarly research on life narrative across genres. You will acquire research knowledge in life narrative studies and practice essay writing skills in the interdisciplinary fields of English language and literature studies. Secondary readings that demonstrate interdisciplinary approaches to life narratives will be available as e-texts through the UBC library.
Required readings will include the following:
- Alice Munro, Lives of Girls and Women (Penguin Modern Classics)
- Fred Wah, Diamond Grill (NeWest)
- Maria Campbell, Halfbreed (Penguin Random House)
- David Chariandy, I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You (Penguin Random House)
- Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis, Volume 1 (Pantheon)
- Selections from Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives, Second Edition, by Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson (U of Minnesota P, 2010). E-book available through UBC Library.
Plus: Selected poems and contemporary songs that feature life narratives, true confessions, and exemplary voices on contemporary social issues.