CONTESTED TRUTHS: MEMORY, AUTHORITY AND

This class examines the ways that a historical event can be remembered and described differently by direct participants, and how personal biases, such as race, gender and class, affect the process of recollection and narration. Some of the texts that will be read and discussed include Sara Collins’ The Confessions of Frannie Langton, Ian McEwan’s Atonement, and Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, among others. Our analysis of these texts will be augmented by theoretical works drawn from sociology and literary studies.