Memoirs!

[notdan]

Some of us had some words to say about memoirs in Non-Fiction this semester, and if you're like me you still have a whole lot to say. Memoirs are probably the most dubious category of literature, not quite an autobiography, not quite fiction--part truth, part construct of memory, part fictitious dressing.

I propose that the category of memoir be removed from the literary world. I do not think it's healthy. My own "memoir" I would rather call a story based on my life, and slap it under fiction. As honest as it can be about what happened it is still very flowery. It's designed to tell a story, entertain, make a statement, not just recount my life. It's not a documentary or an infomercial or anything. It's a piece of writing, I treat it like a piece of art.

[notmike]

NotDan, I can see where you are coming from on your dislike of the category memoir. I understand that we embellish events, and change them to portray characters in a way we would rather portray them. However, I would have to respectfully disagree with you.

It is the uniqueness of the memoir that means it has to have its own unique category. By saying that it is just fiction discounts everything that happens in the story as fake. It looses a significant part of its meaning, of its morals and lessons.

[notdan]

There's no reason why a fictitious character's life story is any less meaningful than a real person's. I don't know why you -have- to attach more value in literature to a "mostly true" story. Just because it's true doesn't change the lessons you can learn from an event.

After all, what piece of literature is the primary example for meaning, morals, and lessons?

[notmike]

I understand this, however, people can more readily dismiss something that is fiction as opposed to something that is non fiction. However, I would like to prevent this from being just a debate between us. So I would like to encourage other people to join in, and voice their opinions (Hint, hint).

[enkindledpulsar]

I think memoirs are important as their own category. It's simply a way of classifying and sorting the work. If I went to a bookstore and wanted to read a real life account of someone's struggle through racism as a woman, or someone's story about being surrogate mother nine times, I would go straight to the memoir section.
There is an unspoken honesty policy involved with memoirs that demands truth from the writer. This can be difficult because our culture is built around embellishments. We photoshop models to make them more ideal, we raise our voices when the adrenaline infused part of our reckless friday night is told, we advertise our food in huge statements of goodness and glory. We are programmed to write with a fictional tilt. Is it wrong? Maybe, maybe not. But it's a challenge when approaching memoir writing.
Memoir is simply another label used to separate writing of different kinds. I think it makes everything easier.

[Patient Penelope]

I would have to agree. Memoir is just another characterization of literature. If someone wanted to write a story based on their life and call it fiction then that would be their choice and their readers would be none the wiser. But I think that having the category of memoir gives people the opportunity to explore parts of their lives in a creative way that may not fit into the fiction of nonfiction specifications.

Dec 15, 2009 22:01:48 GMT -5 notdan said:

It's a piece of writing, I treat it like a piece of art.

Why do you feel that memoirs are not treated as art? I think a memoir can be just as entertaining and make just as much of a statement as a piece of fiction. The function of memoir cannot simply be to recount a life story or it would be boring. I think there still needs to be purpose and direction.