Interpreting the Self

by Diane Bjorklund

How do ways of explaining one's life vary over time? Although anthropologists have found intriguing cultural differences in how people interpret the self, there has been little extended work exploring historical variations. In this study, sociologist Diane Bjorklund remedies this gap by exploring the historical nature of self-narrative. Examining over 100 American autobiographies published in the last two centuries, she discusses not only well-known autobiographers such as Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie but also many obscure ones such as a traveling book peddler, a minstrel, a hotel proprietress, an itinerant preacher, a West Point cadet, and a hoopskirt wire manufacturer.