Subjectivity
Buch in deiner Nähe kaufen
Beschreibung
Who do you think you are? In Subjectivity, Ruth Robbins explores some of the responses to this fundamental question. In readings of a number of autobiographical texts from the last three centuries, Robbins offers an approachable account of formations of the self which demonstrates that both psychology and material conditions - often in tension with one another - are the building blocks of modern notions of selfhood. Key texts studied include:
- William Wordsworth's Prelude
- Thomas De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater
- James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
- Oscar Wilde's De Profundis
- Jung Chang's Wild Swans
Robbins also argues that our subjectivity, far from being the secure possession of the individual, is potentially fragile and contingent. She shows that the versions of subjectivity authorized by the dominant culture are full of gaps and blindspots that undo any notion of universal human nature: subjectivity is culturally and historically specific - we are, in part, what the culture in which we live permits us to be.
Concise and easy-to-follow, this introduction to the concept of subjectivity, and the theories surrounding it, shows that, in spite of the insecurity of selfhood, there is still much to be gained from the textual encounter with other selves. It is essential reading for all those studying 'autobiography' or 'autobiographical writing'.
Subjectivity is a multiple and complex term; it moves between theoretical or philosophical abstractions and the apparently empirical evidence of lived experience. In Subjectivity, Ruth Robbins examines the diverse factors which shape the self in language. Through readings of autobiographical texts written during the last three centuries, Robbins argues for a concept of subjectivity that takes account of the material world in which selves come into being, and places this psychoanalytic concept in a broader theoretical framework. This book is essential reading for all those studying Autobiography or Autobiographical Writing.
Essential reading for those studying Autobiography and Autobiographical Writing
Discusses the formations of the self through a close study of a range of autobiographical texts, both canonical and less wellknown
Offers an approachable account of literary theories of subjectivity, providing students with examples of practical applications
Autor*in
Ruth Robbins
Themen in »Subjectivity«
China concept English experience individual Jean-Jacques Rousseau language living Narrative philosophy Victorian era William James William Wordsworth Wordsworth writing