As Told By Herself

Lorna Martens is a professor of German and comparative literature at the University of Virginia and is the author of several books, including The Promise of Memory: Childhood Recollection and Its Objects in Literary Modernism.

Introduction 1. Beginnings: Women's Childhood Autobiography Prior to World War I Women's Childhood Autobiography in France Mother-DaughterConflict Remembering The Self-Portrait The Working-Class Woman Women's Childhood Autobiography in England, the United States, Australia, and Ireland "We" The Study Short Pieces The Victim Capturing the Child's Vision The Inner Life of the Child Mixing Genres Women's Childhood Autobiography Elsewhere around 1900 In sum 2. The Interwar Years: Memoirs and Semi-Memoirs Memoirs Semi-Memoirs 1935 "Splendor in the Grass" Humor Souvenirs In sum 3. The Interwar Years: The Golden Age of Psychological Self-Portraiture Self-portraits in the 1920s How I Became What I Became In YourFace Self-Expression in the 1930s Self-Assertion The Child's Vision The Study In sum 4. Women's Childhood Autobiography during World War II Semi-Memoirs Self-Focused Works Self-Assertion Remembering The Family Nest and the Challenges beyond It In sum 5. Women's Childhood Autobiography from the End of the Second World War through the 1960s Autobiographies of Abuse Self-Focused Autobiographies Bildungsroman Relationships The Child's Perspective A Stylistic Mix In sum Conclusion Bibliography of Women's Childhood Autobiographies to 1969 Notes

"[A] thoroughly researched and analyzed study. Including almost 200 narratives by professional women of letters in multiple languages over more than a century, the result is the first historical examination of the female childhood autobiography of its kind. . . . Martens's rich cache of stories reveals new insight into women as they saw themselves. . . . Highly recommended."-- "CHOICE Reviews" "Martens's remarkable and ambitious work represents a significant contribution to the field of life writing studies."-- "Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly" "One of the most pleasurable aspects of reading Martens' jargon-free prose is her knack of summarizing themes or characteristics in a succinct, sometimes witty phrase, or pulling up short to ask herself (and the reader) a question. . . . Her encyclopaedic study ensures that we will never again overlook the importance of this genre, or its ability to recount extraordinary girlhoods."-- "Life Writing" Outstanding Academic Title-- "CHOICE" "This is a comprehensive, insightful literary history of women's autobiographies of childhood. Thoroughly researched, highly original, and persuasive, As Told by Herself: Women's Childhood Autobiography, 1845-1969 addresses a significant scholarly gap in very productive and important ways."--Kate Douglas, author of Contesting Childhood: Autobiography, Trauma and Memory