Genesis, the Origin, and Darwin's autobiographies

In the first paragraph of his "Recollections", Charles Darwin explains, "I have attempted to write the following account of myself, as if I were a dead man in another world looking back at my own life" (6). As John Sturrock, George Levine, James Olney and Howard Helsinger have va...

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Autor principal:	Alexis Harley
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Edinburgh 2005
Materias:	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/69c129cf379e4c52b28bad643e648881
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:69c129cf379e4c52b28bad643e6488812021-11-23T09:46:01ZGenesis, the Origin, and Darwin's autobiographies1749-9771https://doaj.org/article/69c129cf379e4c52b28bad643e6488812005-12-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.forumjournal.org/article/view/540https://doaj.org/toc/1749-9771In the first paragraph of his "Recollections", Charles Darwin explains, "I have attempted to write the following account of myself, as if I were a dead man in another world looking back at my own life" (6). As John Sturrock, George Levine, James Olney and Howard Helsinger have variously observed, Darwin's self-construction here rhetorically asserts an objectivity and scientific authority that contradict the realities of autobiographical production (the temptation to fictionalize, the deceitfulness of memory, the absurdity of claiming pure empiricism in the interpretation of a life). More than that, in playing revenant, Darwin makes himself out as transcendental and metaphysical: an otherworldly retrospective narrator with a god's-eye view of his life. He claims not just the authority of the uninvolved, but the authority of the immortal.Alexis HarleyUniversity of EdinburgharticleFine ArtsNLanguage and LiteraturePENForum, Iss 01 (2005)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P
spellingShingle	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P Alexis Harley Genesis, the Origin, and Darwin's autobiographies
description	In the first paragraph of his "Recollections", Charles Darwin explains, "I have attempted to write the following account of myself, as if I were a dead man in another world looking back at my own life" (6). As John Sturrock, George Levine, James Olney and Howard Helsinger have variously observed, Darwin's self-construction here rhetorically asserts an objectivity and scientific authority that contradict the realities of autobiographical production (the temptation to fictionalize, the deceitfulness of memory, the absurdity of claiming pure empiricism in the interpretation of a life). More than that, in playing revenant, Darwin makes himself out as transcendental and metaphysical: an otherworldly retrospective narrator with a god's-eye view of his life. He claims not just the authority of the uninvolved, but the authority of the immortal.
format	article
author	Alexis Harley
author_facet	Alexis Harley
author_sort	Alexis Harley
title	Genesis, the Origin, and Darwin's autobiographies
title_short	Genesis, the Origin, and Darwin's autobiographies
title_full	Genesis, the Origin, and Darwin's autobiographies
title_fullStr	Genesis, the Origin, and Darwin's autobiographies
title_full_unstemmed	Genesis, the Origin, and Darwin's autobiographies
title_sort	genesis, the origin, and darwin's autobiographies
publisher	University of Edinburgh
publishDate	2005
url	https://doaj.org/article/69c129cf379e4c52b28bad643e648881
work_keys_str_mv	AT alexisharley genesistheoriginanddarwinsautobiographies
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Genesis, the Origin, and Darwin's autobiographies

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