Internal dialogues: Construction of the self in The Woman Warrior

• Main Author: Modzelewski, Ann Shirley
• Format: Others
• Published: CSUSB ScholarWorks 2003
• Subjects: Bakhtin; M; (Mikhail Mikhaĭlovich); 1895-1975; Sanger; Margaret; 1879-1966; Jacobs; Harriet A; (Harriet Ann); 1813-1897; Kingston; Maxine Hong; Smith; Sidonie; Women's studies > Biographical methods; Autobiography > Women authors; Biography > 20th century; English language > Rhetoric; American Literature; Rhetoric
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2468; https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3485&context=etd-project

This thesis considers past autobiographical theory and questions whether it addresses the autobiography of the female writer. Autobiographies of Harriet Jacobs, Margaret Sanger, and Maxine Hong Kingston are examined to reveal their polyvocality, use of the autobiographical "I", and rhetorical strategies maintained in order to create a close relationship with the reader. Particular attention is paid to Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of dialogism and Sidonie Smith's autobiographical "I."