Poietics of autobiography and poietics of mind: Cognitive processes and the construction of the self

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dc.contributor.advisorAchard, Michelen_US
dc.creatorAkli, Madalinaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-06-03T21:10:30Zen_US
dc.date.available2009-06-03T21:10:30Zen_US
dc.date.issued2007en_US
dc.description.abstractThe three autobiographies I study in this work, Sartre's The Words, Perec's W or The Memory of Childhood, and Sarraute's Childhood, are each at least partially devoid of chronological structure. Calendar-based order, traditionally associated with autobiography, fails to provide the coherence that the reader has come to expect. Hence, the reader must create a sense of coherence at a level other than chronological while bringing into play his conceptual resources. This work shows that in these literary texts coherence is maintained based on the exploitation of conventional metaphors taken from everyday language. The autobiographers transform them in a manner that is creative and yet familiar to their readers. I first stipulate that the autobiography as genre is built on the familiar metaphor "Life is a journey," for readers can generically understand the three autobiographies as three specific journeys, with a starting point in childhood and an ending point chosen by the writer. Thus, readers travel with the autobiographers on a road that the latter have already traveled (fictionally and/or factually) towards a destination unknown to the first at the outset of reading. In reading, they move to different stages of the book, and at the same time progress from location to location along the autobiographical path. Each time they pass a stage, they move away from the starting point and approach the final destination (the end of the book and the ultimate meaning it carries). The notion "Autobiography is a journey" is a conceptual resource autobiographers and their readers share as they metaphorically travel together along the autobiographical path, journeying from one mental stage to another, and remaining all the while co-located. This generic autobiographical journey is further structured by metaphors specific to each work, which are useful tools for both writers and readers. Sartre, Perec, and Sarraute use metaphors to capture their pasts and structure their autobiographical artifacts, while readers employ them to conceptualize others' life experiences. The autobiography is understood in each case through knowledge that is familiar to both writers and readers. These conventional patterns of thought are metaphorical bridges between the productive consciousness of the writers and the receptive mind of the readers that allow the first to organize their works and the latter to understand them.en_US
dc.format.extent326 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS LING. 2007 AKLIen_US
dc.identifier.citationAkli, Madalina. "Poietics of autobiography and poietics of mind: Cognitive processes and the construction of the self." (2007) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/20571">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/20571</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/20571en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectBiographiesen_US
dc.subjectRomance literatureen_US
dc.titlePoietics of autobiography and poietics of mind: Cognitive processes and the construction of the selfen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentLinguisticsen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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