"My primary concern is with the ethics of representing vulnerable
subjects—persons who are liable to exposure by someone with whom
they are involved in an intimate or trust-based relationship,
unable to represent themselves in writing, or unable to offer
meaningful consent to their representation by someone else.... Of
primary importance is intimate life writing—that done within
families or couples, close relationships, or quasi-professional
relationships that involve trust—rather than conventional
biography, which can be written by a stranger. The closer the
relationship between writer and subject, the greater the
vulnerability or dependency of the subject, the higher the ethical
stakes, and the more urgent the need for ethical scrutiny."—from
the Preface Vulnerable Subjects explores a range of life-writing
scenarios-from the "celebrity" to the "ethnographic"—and a number
of life-writing genres from parental memoir to literary case
studies by Oliver Sacks. G. Thomas Couser addresses complex
contemporary issues; he investigates the role of disability in
narratives of euthanasia and explores the implications of the Human
Genome Project for life-writing practices in any age when many
regard DNA as a code that "scripts" lives and shapes identity.
Throughout, his book is concerned with the ethical implications of
the political and economic, as well as the mimetic, aspects of life
writing.
General
Imprint: |
Cornell University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
October 2003 |
First published: |
2003 |
Authors: |
G. Thomas Couser
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 15mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
256 |
Edition: |
New |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8014-8863-4 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-8014-8863-X |
Barcode: |
9780801488634 |
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