LIFE WRITING

ACL584

Course Code: ACL584
Semester: -
Theory+Practice: 3 + 0
ECTS: 5

Course Type

Elective Course

Course Level

Master's Degree With Thesis

Year of Study

Semester

ECTS

Name of Lecturer(s)

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, the students;

Explain critical discourses and various approaches to life writing.
Analyze the intersections of gender, race, class, and sexuality within autobiographical narratives.
Interpret works of life writing in their social, cultural, and historical contexts.

Mode of Delivery

Prerequisites

Recommended Optional Programme Components

Course Description

This course offers an introduction to theoretical and critical dimensions inherent in life writing focusing on concepts such as truth, memory, and representation. It explores how American authors employ autobiographical forms and narrative techniques to construct personal narratives and define cultural belonging. The students also examine how life writing reflects individual experiences, cultural practices and collective histories within the American context.

Course Contents

WEEK	TOPICS
1^st Week	Introduction to the Course, Reading and Theorizing Life Narratives. Autobiographical Subjects and Acts, What is Autobiographical Truth?
2^nd Week	Defining and Discerning Life Narrative Forms, Kinds of Life Narratives Articles: Lejeune, Phillipe. "Autobiographical Contract," "Autobiography in the Third Person," "The Autobiography of Those Who Do Not Write."
3^rd Week	Ethnic and Postethnic Life Narrative Samuelsson, Marcus. Yes, Chef: A Memoir
4^th Week	Ethnic and Postethnic Life Narrative Samuelsson, Marcus. Yes, Chef: A Memoir
5^th Week	Family Narratives: Genealogical, and Generational Gastrogeography: Denise Chaves. A Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture
6^th Week	Family Narratives: Genealogical, and Generational Gastrogeography: Denise Chaves. Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture
7^th Week	MIDTERM EXAM
8^th Week	Kinds of Life Narratives, Theoretical Framework, Research Paper Discussion
9^th Week	Disability, Illness, and Diversely Embodied Narratives
10^th Week	Sontag, Susan. "Illness as Metaphor" (1978) Biomythography : Selected Chapters from Audre, Lorde. The Cancer Journals (1980)
11^th Week	Disability, Illness, and Diversely Embodied Narratives, Graphic Memoirs: The Story of My Tits
12^th Week	NO CLASS
13^th Week	Autogeography and City Memoirs: Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. (2007)
14^th Week	Ecobiography, Autogeography and City Memoirs: Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul: Memories and the City
15^th Week	Ecobiography, Autogeography and City Memoirs: Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul: Memories and the City
16^th Week	Revision and Research Paper Discussions

Programme Qualifications / Learning Outcomes

	LO1	LO2	LO3
K1
K2
K3
K4
K5
K6
K7
K8
K9
K10
K11
K12
K13