Literary criticism is a deceptively simple field; it seems easy enough to separate written work into fiction and non-fiction. Rising senior Kathleen Naughton (Cromwell, Conn.), however, challenged this assumption with her research into the autobiography. Naughton, a creative writing and chemistry minor, has always been interested in the resonances of the writer upon his or her subject matter, which she researched this summer.
Writing is essentially a subjective field where the narration of "true" events is heavily colored by the point of view of the writer. Although an autobiography, the story of the life of the author, should be entirely factual, it can be affected by mood like any other writing. In fact, Naughton argued, an autobiography may be even more affected by subjectivity because the writer and the hero are the same person/character and allowing the hero of the story to fail is essentially destroying oneself. "Self-delusion is better than self-disintegration. This is why so many autobiographies present a heroic character that ultimately triumphs, while many fiction works are more willing to allow characters to fail," said Naughton.
It took Naughton some time to settle upon the autobiography as a subject; it was a psychology article that finally gave her the base she needed. The article argued that human beings store information the same way whether it is perceived as fictional or non-fictional, and that there is more likely to be a change in information storage based on how familiar the reader is with his topic. In other words, a student here would approach and store information about Hamilton differently than he or she would approach and store information (fictional or not) about a different college, because Hamilton is familiar.
Naughton chose to focus on two highly-respected authors, J.M. Coetzee and Vladimir Nabokov, both of whom have written both fiction and fictionalized memoirs. She read the memoirs and one work of fiction by both authors and used them as examples of what an author can do to his own autobiography and how much fiction can move into truth.
After completing this literary analysis, Naughton investigated the implications of this relationship on the reader; "what obligation does an author have to be truthful?" She concluded, "I think you can't worry about Truth with a capital T when you're writing."
She then expanded her thoughts into a question of how readers actually view authors. "To us, authors seem remote – they're People Who Wrote Books," Naughton said. She added that, contrary to our view, most writers have no little authority to tell readers how to live. "We need a little more skepticism," Naughton said. "We need to take real world judgments and use them."
This is Naughton's second summer of research. She spent last year in the chemistry lab studying solution structures for alpha-fetoprotein peptides which have an application in breast cancer treatment. This summer, Naughton said, she was much more independent. "I had to figure out where I wanted to go."
Naughton plays the oboe in Hamilton's orchestra and, in the coming year, will act as co-president of the Friday Think Tank discussion session and co-editor of the student literary magazine Red Weather.
Naughton's research this summer was funded by the Emerson Foundation Grant Program, which provides students with significant opportunities to work collaboratively with faculty mentors, researching an area of mutual interest; Naughton worked with Associate Professor of Philosophy Marianne Janack. Recipients typically undertake some combination of fieldwork, laboratory investigation, library research and the development of teaching materials. A public presentation of their findings is required of all Emerson Scholars during the academic year.
-- by Lisbeth Redfield
Writing is essentially a subjective field where the narration of "true" events is heavily colored by the point of view of the writer. Although an autobiography, the story of the life of the author, should be entirely factual, it can be affected by mood like any other writing. In fact, Naughton argued, an autobiography may be even more affected by subjectivity because the writer and the hero are the same person/character and allowing the hero of the story to fail is essentially destroying oneself. "Self-delusion is better than self-disintegration. This is why so many autobiographies present a heroic character that ultimately triumphs, while many fiction works are more willing to allow characters to fail," said Naughton.
It took Naughton some time to settle upon the autobiography as a subject; it was a psychology article that finally gave her the base she needed. The article argued that human beings store information the same way whether it is perceived as fictional or non-fictional, and that there is more likely to be a change in information storage based on how familiar the reader is with his topic. In other words, a student here would approach and store information about Hamilton differently than he or she would approach and store information (fictional or not) about a different college, because Hamilton is familiar.
Naughton chose to focus on two highly-respected authors, J.M. Coetzee and Vladimir Nabokov, both of whom have written both fiction and fictionalized memoirs. She read the memoirs and one work of fiction by both authors and used them as examples of what an author can do to his own autobiography and how much fiction can move into truth.
After completing this literary analysis, Naughton investigated the implications of this relationship on the reader; "what obligation does an author have to be truthful?" She concluded, "I think you can't worry about Truth with a capital T when you're writing."
She then expanded her thoughts into a question of how readers actually view authors. "To us, authors seem remote – they're People Who Wrote Books," Naughton said. She added that, contrary to our view, most writers have no little authority to tell readers how to live. "We need a little more skepticism," Naughton said. "We need to take real world judgments and use them."
This is Naughton's second summer of research. She spent last year in the chemistry lab studying solution structures for alpha-fetoprotein peptides which have an application in breast cancer treatment. This summer, Naughton said, she was much more independent. "I had to figure out where I wanted to go."
Naughton plays the oboe in Hamilton's orchestra and, in the coming year, will act as co-president of the Friday Think Tank discussion session and co-editor of the student literary magazine Red Weather.
Naughton's research this summer was funded by the Emerson Foundation Grant Program, which provides students with significant opportunities to work collaboratively with faculty mentors, researching an area of mutual interest; Naughton worked with Associate Professor of Philosophy Marianne Janack. Recipients typically undertake some combination of fieldwork, laboratory investigation, library research and the development of teaching materials. A public presentation of their findings is required of all Emerson Scholars during the academic year.
-- by Lisbeth Redfield
