Definition of Memoir
Many people interchangeably use the terms “autobiography” and “memoir.” Although Amazon and many brick-and-mortar bookstores put them in the same category, they are quite different. Here’s how they are different. An autobiography Focuses on the trajectory of an entire life Starts at the beginning and progresses chronologically to the end Feels more like a historical. Memoirs and autobiographies are one of the most popular genres, and you'll find lots recommended in our reading lists. If you're looking for the best of the past year, Mark Athitakis talks us through the autobiographies that made the shortlist of the National Book Critics Circle Awards in 2020. Autobiography and memoir March 2021 Richard Thompson: 'I had to put the pen down, take a deep breath, have a little cry' The folk-rock pioneer has finally written his memoir, covering a.
Memoir is a written factual account of somebody’s life. It comes from the French word mémoire, which means “memory,” or “reminiscence.” This literary technique tells a story about the experiences of someone’s life. A literary memoir is usually about a specific theme, or about a part of someone’s life. It is a story with a proper narrative shape, focus, and subject matter, involving reflection on some particular event or place.
Memoirs are often associated with popular personalities, such as celebrities, sportsmen, soldiers, singers, and writers. It allows making a connection with what the audience finds captivating, interesting, appealing, and engaging.
Memoir and Autobiography
Memoir falls under the category of autobiography, but is used as its sub-genre. The major difference between memoir and autobiography is that a memoir is a centralized and more specific storytelling, while an autobiography spans the entire life of a person with intricate details such as the childhood, family history, education, and profession. A memoir is specific and focused, telling the story of somebody’s life, focusing on an important event that occurred at a specific time and place.
Examples of Memoir in Literature
Example #1: A Moveable Feast (By Ernest Hemingway)
Ernest Hemingway was an acclaimed celebrity during the times when the public treated American writers like movie stars. His memoir A Moveable Feast was published after his death in 1964. This memoir is a collection of stories about his time spent in Paris as a writer in 1920s, before attaining popularity. During these days, he was acquainted with many other famous writers, including Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein.
Example #2: Speak Memory (By Vladimir Nabokov)
This memoir is about the description of Nabokov’s childhood, and the years he spent before moving to America in 1940; however, it is not the exact reason of writing this memoir. More notably, this book is about a tale of his art, as it serves as a model of that art. In addition, it includes themes, imagery, and symbols that build up a structure in the minds of readers besides making up the book. Like always, Nabokov’s prose writing is flawless, brilliant, and overwhelming, while his playful writing style makes his work seem fascinating.
Example #3: Homage to Catalonia (By George Orwell)
This is Orwell’s gripping tale of his days during the Spanish Civil War. He has described it with his typical trademark of journalistic wink, which is one of his best works. Honest and unwavering, Orwell narrates his personal experience without inducing any agenda, recording different things from that era as he saw them. Philip Mairet said of this account that the work shows ]people a heart of innocence living in revolutionary days.
Example #4: Maus (By Art Spiegelman)
Although we can find many deeply affecting memoirs to make this list, Maus is one of the most well-liked memoirs, with its distressing story covered with perfect illustrations by Spiegelman. We might think that imagining different characters appearing with animal faces would make the story horrible and less intense and more irritating, it is rather the opposite. If we know the comic style, we learn that blank iconic faces and the outlook of the mice in this memoir allows the audience to put themselves in their shoes, to understand the story more easily.
Function of Memoir
Memoir has been around since ancient times. Perhaps Julius Caesar, who wrote and depicted his personal experiences about epic battles, was the first memoirist. Later, it became a popular and acclaimed literary genre. Memoir serves to preserve history through a person’ eyes. Through memoir, celebrities also tell harsh sides of their careers. Rock stars tell their fans about tough days spent in distress, drug addicts reveal their struggle in seeking normal life, soldiers write war experiences, people who are mentally ill describe ups and downs to achieve clarity, and authors tell particular events that happened before their eyes. Hence, the function of memoir is to provide a window for the audience to have a look into the lives of other people.
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The line between memoir and autobiography is a fuzzy one, especially in this modern literary era where writers are constantly blurring the boundaries between genres to create a new, exciting one. Like an autobiography, a memoir is a narrative that reveals experiences within the author's lifetime. But there are obvious and practical differences between the two similar genres.
In essence, an autobiography is a chronological telling of one's experience, which should include phases such as childhood, adolescence, adulthood, etc., while a memoir provides a much more specific timeline and a much more intimate relationship to the writer's own memories, feelings and emotions.
Memoirs are typically
- less formal
- less encompassing
- more concerned with emotional truth toward a particular section of one’s life and how it makes you feel now
- less obsessed with factual events
- written by the subject
Autobiography is essentially
- written by the main character or at least drafted with a collaborative writer
- made up of detailed chronology, events, places, reactions, movements and any other relevant information that inhabited the life of the subject
- focused on facts - fact, above all, is its foundation
In his own memoir, Palimpsest, Gore Vidal gave his own definitions of the two genres stating, 'a memoir is how one remembers one's own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked.'
El capitan download for mac. With these basic definitions and comparisons, think about your own work. What is most important to your story: emotion or fact? Think about your intended audience and what they would find most interesting. Planner 5d free account login.
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Memoir And Autobiography Similarities
Memoir And Autobiography
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