Personal Essay in Contemporary Australian Life Writing

Pleasures, Perils, Ethics

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

1 569 kr

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Examining the rise and significance of the personal essay in Australian life writing, Kyle Cardell frames the personal essay as a hybrid, politically charged genre that negotiates with aesthetics and ethics as a feature of self-representation in this form. She traces the essay’s historical trajectory and contemporary vitality in Australia through case studies ranging from Charmian Clift’s mid-century columns, to First Nations writers like Chelsea Watego and Mykaela Saunders, digital feminist essaying by Clementine Ford, eco-essays by Sophie Cunningham and #MeToo narratives, exploring themes of genre, agency and activism. Ultimately, this book argues that the personal essay functions as a dynamic site for creative, personal acts of cultural critique and narrative justice in the context of Australian life writing.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-11-30
Mått156 x 234 x undefined mm
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor182
FörlagEdinburgh University Press
ISBN9781399541411

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Litteraturvetenskap inom Skönlitteratur

Kylie Cardell is Associate Professor in English Literary Studies at Flinders University. She is a founding director of the International Auto/Biography Association (IABA) Asia-Pacific, co-director of the Life Narrative Lab, and is Essays Editor for the journal Life Writing. Kylie teaches and researches contemporary life writing. Her work has focused on the intersection of life narrative, form and identity and explores in particular the significance of genre in contemporary culture and the politics of autobiographical expression.

AcknowledgementsIntroduction: Who Gets to be Personal in the Essay?1. Popular, Personal, Political: Charmian Clift’s Mid-Century Essays as the Emergence of an Australian Essay Tradition.2. 'This Story The Way I See Fit': Chelsea Watego, Mykaela Saunders and the Personal Essay in First Nations Life Writing3. The Insta Essay: Clementine Ford, Feminist Activism, and Essays as Social Media4. The Personal Essay as Ecological Crisis: Sophie Cunningham’s City of Trees5. Essay as Paratext: Writing about Trauma Memoir in the Essay6. The #MeToo Essay: Public Intellectual, Anthology, ComicsConclusion: Essays of a Kind.Works CitedIndex