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A Different Form of "Self": Narrative Style in British Nineteenth-Century Working-class Autobiography
- Biography
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 12, Number 3, Summer 1989
- pp. 208-226
- 10.1353/bio.2010.0512
- Article
- Additional Information
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Although autobiography, especially works by obscure people, has become popular, literary critics have ignored the rhetorical or literary devices used by nineteenth-century British working-class autobiographers. However, what seems to be an absence of rhetorical flourishes or personal style is a reflection of political and social reality. The plain narratives in which they emphasize repeatedly their truthfulness aptly parallel their lives and serve their purpose to promote social concerns to outsiders.