| Summary: | This thesis examines the relationship between power and
knowledge in the maintenance of a separate category of historical
literature labelled “political memoir.” It adopts a feminist
definition of “political” and thereby challenges the fundamental
dichotomy between personal and political upon which such a
categorization depends. Feminist literary analysis is used to read
the personal narratives of two women whose experiences would not
normally qualify as “political,” and two men whose experiences as
diplomats place them firmly within the tradition of “political
memoir” writing. The goal of such an analysis is to demonstrate
both the myriad ways in which personal experience is political and
the political implications of all personal writings. In this way,
the thesis “deconstructs” the concept of political memoir and
reaffirms the need for a fundamental restructuring of the
categories into which historical analysis has been divided. === Arts, Faculty of === History, Department of === Graduate
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