The Limits of Autobiography: Trauma and Testimony

Leigh Gilmore's book explores how trauma is depicted in texts by combining autobiography, fiction, biography, history, and theory. It examines how each author poses the questions of how they have lived and how they will live in relation to the social and psychic forms that give rise to trauma. The new edition includes a preface by the author that assesses the tension between life writing and trauma in the twenty-first century.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 186 pages
Publication date: 15 July 2023
Publisher: Cornell University Press

In her groundbreaking work "The Limits of Autobiography," Leigh Gilmore delves into the analysis of texts that depict trauma by seamlessly blending elements of autobiography, fiction, biography, history, and theory, thereby challenging the traditional confines of the genre. Through astute and captivating readings of works by renowned figures such as Michel Foucault, Louis Althusser, Dorothy Allison, Mikal Gilmore, Jamaica Kincaid, and Jeanette Winterson, Gilmore explores how each author poses the profound questions of "How have I lived?" and "How will I live?" in relation to the social and psychic contexts in which trauma emerges. This new edition, first published in 2001, stands as a seminal text in the field of trauma studies, and it includes a fresh preface by the author that assesses the ongoing tension between life writing and trauma in the twenty-first century. This tension continues to fuel innovative and artistic approaches to addressing kinship, violence, and self-representation, making "The Limits of Autobiography" an essential and enduring contribution to the study of this complex and pressing subject matter.

Weight: 302g
Dimension: 153 x 229 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501770777
Edition number: with a new preface