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Absolute Truth in Autobiography: Does it exist? Absolute Truth in
Autobiography: Does it Exist? The recent discovery of lies and ...
... Her autobiography portrays many interesting historical documentation about ... the monarch
his power to absolute ruling ... propaganda and concealing the truth from the ...
... to make a ‘nothing.’ It is the absolute power of ... own life they are not to be considered
his autobiography. ... hero is an ultimate, universal ideal truth to be ...
... Descartes then arrives at one absolute truth – his own existence ... reject reason as
a guide for truth and rely ... Book 1 In his short autobiography, “My Own Life ...
... result of our consciousness, the ‘absolute consciousness ... philosophy that claims to
show a final truth. ... Coleridge: The function of Autobiography in Biographia ...
Submitted by lauren92082 on March 12, 2008
Category: English
Words: 2730 | Pages: 11
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Absolute Truth in Autobiography: Does it Exist?
The recent discovery of lies and deception in James Frey's memoir A Million Little Pieces has literary critics and common readers alike looking more closely at nonfiction writers. Some authors, such as Maxine Hong Kingston and Augusten Burroughs have been criticized by those who claim that their so-called memoirs are not completely truthful. Others, such as Jill Ker Conway are so committed to writing the truth down to the last detail that they take pains to do so. These authors undoubtedly hold views about truth that are not unlike those of other autobiographers and literary critics. There seems to be an ongoing debate as to what responsibilities life-writers have to their audience when it comes to the truth as well as the responsibilities they have to the people they include in their book(s). To what degree does the truth need be adhered to? Poet Sharon Olds contends that there is a spectrum of truth.1 Some authors are at the far right of the spectrum, taking a great deal of care when writing nonfiction, while others are far to the right throwing caution to the wind and writing what makes the story more sensational (We can put James Frey over on this side). There are undoubtedly many writers who would fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. Everyone has their own criteria when determining what should and should not be taken into account when writing nonfiction. We must ask ourselves what truth is. Does the definition differ from person to person, or is there an absolute truth? I contend that many nonfiction writers, namely Augusten Burroughs, Jill Ker Conway, Joan Didion, Maxine Hong Kingston, Sara Suleri and Mary Karr all have a certain respect for the truth and do not intend to write in a way to sensationalize their memoirs or get their names on the best sellers list. Although they may have different ways of proving to their audience that what they are writing is the truth, they are...
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