Memoir
A memoir (
Early memoirs
Memoirs have been written since the ancient times, as shown by
The
In the
Until the
From the eighteenth century
Over the latter half of the 18th through the mid-20th century, memoirists generally included those who were noted within their chosen profession. These authors wrote as a way to record and publish their own account of their public exploits. Authors included politicians or people in court society and were later joined by military leaders and businessmen. An exception to these models is Henry David Thoreau's 1854 memoir Walden, which presents his experiences over the course of two years in a cabin he built near Walden Pond.
Twentieth-century war memoirs became a genre of their own, including, from the
Memoirs today
In the early 1990s, memoirs written by ordinary people experienced a sudden upsurge, as an increasing number of people realized that their ancestors' and their own stories were about to disappear, in part as a result of the opportunities and distractions of technological advances. At the same time, psychology and other research began to show that familiarity with genealogy helps people find their place in the world and that life review helps people come to terms with their own past.[7]
With the advent of inexpensive digital book production in the first decade of the 21st century,[8] the genre exploded. Memoirs written as a way to pass down a personal legacy, rather than as a literary work of art or historical document, are emerging as a personal and family responsibility.[9]
The Association of Personal Historians was a trade association for professionals who assisted individuals, families, and organizations in documenting their life stories.[10] It dissolved in 2017.
Collections
With the expressed interest of preserving history through the eyes of those who lived it, some organizations work with potential memoirists to bring their work to fruition. The Veterans History Project, for example, compiles the memoirs of those who have served in a branch of the United States Armed Forces – especially those who have seen active combat.[11]
Terminology
Memoirs are usually understood to be factual accounts of people's lives, typically from their early years, and are derived from the French term mémoire, meaning "reminiscence" or "memory."[12] However, some works, which may be called free memoirs, are less strictly bound to remembered facts: "One type of life story is the free memoir, a form of nonfiction that, in presenting the past, deviates from factual and literal accuracy. This play of truth distinguishes the free memoir from the memoir per se, the word 'free' meaning what it does in free translation, that is, 'not literal or exact.'”[13]
Academia
The term 'memoir' is used in some academic contexts to describe an essay on a learned subject. Examples include explanatory texts accompanying geologic maps.[14]
See also
- Diary
- Fake memoirs
- Graphic memoir
- Histoire de ma vie
- Last will and testament
References
- ^ "memoir". Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. Oxford University Press.
- ^ "memoir". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
- ^ "memoir". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2019-12-22.
- ^ (in French) Viennot, Éliane, Marguerite de Valois et l'écriture de l'histoire, 1574-1614 Archived 2020-09-19 at the Wayback Machine, Études Épistémè, 17, spring 2010.
- ^ Saintsbury, George (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 47–48.
- ^ "Gedenkschriften over Napoleon's veldtochten, meegemaakt als soldaat bij het 2e regiment carabiniers te paard, 1805–1815". lib.ugent.be. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
- ISBN 978-0974277349.
- ISBN 978-1852334352. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
- ISBN 978-1599631356. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
- ^ Wright, Chris (2002-01-17). "Ordinary people". The Phoenix. Phoenix Media/Communications Group.
- ^ "Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)". loc.gov.
- ^ "Memoir: Definition and Examples". Literary Terms. 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Says, Masterarchivist (2015-03-13). "The Free Memoir: A License to Thrill". Backhand Blog. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- OCLC 6022506.