Celebrity, Scriptedness and Alleged Sexual Violence in Ghost-Written Autobiographies by Julian Assange and Samantha Geimer

This article explores issues relating to the way scripts of sexual violence are employed or rejected in auto/biographical writing. It addresses ghost-written autobiographical responses to two famously unresolved cases of alleged male–female rape: those of Julian Assange and Roman Polanski. In both c...

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Main Author: Edward Saunders
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Groningen Press 2015-05-01
Series:European Journal of Life Writing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ejlw.eu/article/view/31450
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spelling doaj-f8499b60c0cd44f6abd02327604816cc2020-11-25T02:46:58ZengUniversity of Groningen PressEuropean Journal of Life Writing2211-243X2015-05-014VC85VC10710.5463/ejlw.4.15931450Celebrity, Scriptedness and Alleged Sexual Violence in Ghost-Written Autobiographies by Julian Assange and Samantha GeimerEdward Saunders0Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the History and Theory of Biography, ViennaThis article explores issues relating to the way scripts of sexual violence are employed or rejected in auto/biographical writing. It addresses ghost-written autobiographical responses to two famously unresolved cases of alleged male–female rape: those of Julian Assange and Roman Polanski. In both cases, the alleged perpetrator was a famous man and the allegation of rape has not conclusively been proven in court. The article looks at rape as a narratological problem beyond the definition or symbolic meaning of the crime, and contrasts the narration from the perspective of an alleged perpetrator (Assange) with that of a victim (Samantha Geimer), addressing the way the act of sexual violence becomes a point of orientation in the lives of both – perhaps disproportionately so. In both cases, the management of the autobiographical account through the use of ghost-writers focuses attention on the constructed nature of the life narrative. In cases relating to famous men, reflecting the impact of media reporting is a necessary counterpart to the consideration of the auto/biographical text.https://ejlw.eu/article/view/31450sexual violencecelebrityscriptedness
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Edward Saunders
spellingShingle Edward Saunders
Celebrity, Scriptedness and Alleged Sexual Violence in Ghost-Written Autobiographies by Julian Assange and Samantha Geimer
European Journal of Life Writing
sexual violence
celebrity
scriptedness
author_facet Edward Saunders
author_sort Edward Saunders
title Celebrity, Scriptedness and Alleged Sexual Violence in Ghost-Written Autobiographies by Julian Assange and Samantha Geimer
title_short Celebrity, Scriptedness and Alleged Sexual Violence in Ghost-Written Autobiographies by Julian Assange and Samantha Geimer
title_full Celebrity, Scriptedness and Alleged Sexual Violence in Ghost-Written Autobiographies by Julian Assange and Samantha Geimer
title_fullStr Celebrity, Scriptedness and Alleged Sexual Violence in Ghost-Written Autobiographies by Julian Assange and Samantha Geimer
title_full_unstemmed Celebrity, Scriptedness and Alleged Sexual Violence in Ghost-Written Autobiographies by Julian Assange and Samantha Geimer
title_sort celebrity, scriptedness and alleged sexual violence in ghost-written autobiographies by julian assange and samantha geimer
publisher University of Groningen Press
series European Journal of Life Writing
issn 2211-243X
publishDate 2015-05-01
description This article explores issues relating to the way scripts of sexual violence are employed or rejected in auto/biographical writing. It addresses ghost-written autobiographical responses to two famously unresolved cases of alleged male–female rape: those of Julian Assange and Roman Polanski. In both cases, the alleged perpetrator was a famous man and the allegation of rape has not conclusively been proven in court. The article looks at rape as a narratological problem beyond the definition or symbolic meaning of the crime, and contrasts the narration from the perspective of an alleged perpetrator (Assange) with that of a victim (Samantha Geimer), addressing the way the act of sexual violence becomes a point of orientation in the lives of both – perhaps disproportionately so. In both cases, the management of the autobiographical account through the use of ghost-writers focuses attention on the constructed nature of the life narrative. In cases relating to famous men, reflecting the impact of media reporting is a necessary counterpart to the consideration of the auto/biographical text.
topic sexual violence
celebrity
scriptedness
url https://ejlw.eu/article/view/31450
work_keys_str_mv AT edwardsaunders celebrityscriptednessandallegedsexualviolenceinghostwrittenautobiographiesbyjulianassangeandsamanthageimer
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