Memoir – a trendy literature style studied at the University: An Odyssey by Daniel Mendelsohn 

Before the modern memoir genre emerged, the writings that narrate one’s life experiences were part of the autobiographical genre. Indeed, this genre was omnipresent in seventeenth-century England. In these writings, the religious aspect was one of the main characteristics; the writers were usually describing their daily experiences as pious people, or their paths to faith, which aimed to help other people find the path to God. For instance, George Fox, the founder of the Religious Society of Friends known as the Quakers, wrote journals in which he presents his meetings, travels, prayers, and acts of worship. The Quakers were influenced by George Fox; therefore, when some of them migrated to the New World (now the United States), they kept on writing about their spiritual journey.  

The spiritual aspect of these autobiographies had a tremendous impact on the emergence of memoirs as we know them today. As Ben Yagoda points out in his book entitled Memoir: A History: “the spiritual autobiographies […] had a major and long-lasting impact. If you look closely enough, you can find their influence in the majority of American memoirs. And they continue to be as powerful a model as ever.” 

A century later, in the 18^th century, the autobiographical genre propagated in the New World and gained more power in the literary sphere. For example, Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography (a collection of autobiographies written from 1771 to 1790) is one of the most well-known autobiographies in the United States.  However, by the mid-20^th century, the interest in autobiographies declined and the memoir genre took over, with examples such as Malcom X and Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcom X (1965) or Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). 

Since the mid-20^th century, memoirs have gained more popularity in the United States, but in these last years, the genre has become increasingly popular worldwide.  In her article “Are Memoirs Autobiography? A Consideration of Genre and Public Identity.”, Professor Julie Rak claims that: “the popularity of books with ‘memoirs’ in the title has sky-rocketed in North America, leading to what Leigh Gilmore has called the memoir boom.” Professor G. Thomas Couser also suggests in his book entitled Memoir that: “The boom is not confined to Anglophone countries. Memoir is increasingly of interest worldwide. Academic conferences on life writing are held around the world and attract scholars from an increasing number of countries.”  

But what is a memoir? Canadian poet and novelist George Fetherling defines it as a specific genre often classified as a life narrative or a life writing. In his book entitled In the Vintage Book of Canadian Memoirs, he suggests that: “memoir is more tightly focused, more daring in construction, and more penetrating. A memoir can be of one’s self or other people or a particular decade – or of a particular place.” 

Memoir is a genre that was frowned upon by academics and critics. Indeed, Couser declares: “Unlike fiction, which is taught early and often in American classrooms right through university, memoir is still treated with relative neglect, leaving the impression that it needs no explanation.” However, many teachers assert that it is essential to study the functionality and the contents of memoirs in order to give students the opportunity to improve their writing skills, to help them develop their critical analytical skills, or to learn literary devices. That is why memoirs have gradually made their way into universities (in France and North America) with the aim of teaching common literary subjects or techniques in a non-traditional fashion. In that regard, Couser states: “Never has memoir writing been encouraged among students so young.”  

For instance, the master’s degree in Cultural Studies of the English-Speaking World at of Aix-Marseille University proposes a course in which students have the possibility to discover a well-known American memorist: Daniel Mendelsohn. In the course, Professor Sophie Vallas makes sure to present the author and his remarkable body of work in detail. Through the analysis of An Odyssey, a Father, a Son and an Epic (2017), students are invited to explore the famous Greek myth The Odyssey by Homer in a new way, since Daniel Mendelsohn is a professor specialized in Greek mythology.  

Furthermore, students can delve into sensitive subjects which are often linked to the characters in the original myth, or learn how Greek literature has a significant impact on works of popular culture. 

Therefore, there appears to be many benefits to studying the craft of memoir writing, as Professor Vallas explains in regards to Daniel Mendelsohn’s body of work: “reading Mendelsohn’s whole work easily allows us to understand to what extent it blurs potential frontiers between criticism, teaching and self-writing.” She also highlights how all memoirs demonstrate that writing about oneself is a way of showing “how this self is connected to a vast cultural and literary world which is part of the development of any individual and ancient knowledge.” This perfectly encapsulates the benefits of studying memoir writing.  

Bibliography  

Couser, G. T. Memoir: an introduction. Oxford University Press, 2012. 

Rak, Julie. “Are Memoirs Autobiography? A Consideration of Genre and Public Identity.” Genre 37.3-4 (2004): 483–504. https://www.academia.edu/2381597/Are_Memoirs_Autobiography_A_Consideration_of_Genre_and_Public_Identity Accessed 31 Oct. 2023.  

Roessing, Lesley. “Memoir: Writing about What Matters.” LITERACY WITH LESLEY, www.literacywithlesley.com/blog/memoir-writing-about-what-matters#:~:text=Quality%20of%20writing%20improves%20when,write%20more%20willingly%20and%20meaningfully Accessed 31 Oct. 2023.  

Vallas, Sophie. Daniel Mendelsohn’s memoir-writing: rings of memory. 2022.  

Yagoda, Ben. Memoir: A History. Penguin, 2009.  

AOUIR, Mehdi. Illustrations. https://lukyto11.github.io/Portfolio/