Spaces of Belonging: Home, Culture, and Identity in 20th Century French Autobiography

Spaces of Belonging: Home, Culture, and Identity in 20th Century French Autobiography
ISBN-10
9042022833
ISBN-13
9789042022836
Category
History
Pages
316
Language
English
Published
2007-01
Publisher
Rodopi
Author
Elizabeth Houston Jones

Description

Questions of space, place and identity have become increasingly prominent throughout the arts and humanities in recent times. This study begins by investigating the reasons for this growth in interest and analyses the underlying assumptions on which interdisciplinary discussions about space are often based. After tracing back the history of contact between Geography and Literary Studies from both disciplinary perspectives, it goes on to discuss recent academic work in the field and seeks to forge a new conceptual framework through which contemporary discussions of space and literature can operate. Having argued that the experience of contemporary space has rendered questions of home and belonging particularly pressing, it undertakes detailed analysis of how these phenomena are articulated in a selection of recent French life writing texts. Home is shown to be a deeply problematic, yet strongly desired, element of the contemporary world. The book concludes by addressing the underlying thesis that contemporary life writing might provide just the 'postmodern maps' that could help not only literary scholars, but also geographers, better understand the world today.

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