British Autobiography in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Autobiographies are among the bestselling books in Britain, and beside the book format, other forms of autobiographical expression such as blogging and vlogging flourish, too. As a response to this ‘autobiography boom’ since the late 20th century, the study of life writing has developed into a vibrant field of research. Although there have been many British contributions to the field, a collection that assembles critical views on the variety of contemporary British autobiographical writing has still been missing. This volume cannot close this gap and provide a comprehensive overview on recent British autobiography but brings together exemplary studies of different media, forms and issues of British autobiographical writing, testifying to the creativity and diversity of both autobiographical texts and analytical angles. Contributions focus predominantly on non-canonical texts, including some of the most popular contemporary autobiographical genres, such as graphic memoirs, fan autobiographies, disability memoirs, or blogs, addressing, for example, questions of genre, ethics and identity as well as ideas for teaching.