Getting Personal: Feminist Occasions and Other Autobiographical Acts

Rating:
Summary: useful intro to personal criticism
Review: The first chapter of this book, "Getting Personal: Autobiography as Cultural Criticism" is worth the whole book. This is a manifesto for personal criticism, that both gives an overview of the kinds of writing that can be called personal criticism and the problematics of the concept. Some feminist theory is densely theoretical, while other feminists argue that we must "turn our back on theory". Miller disagrees with the latter, while arguing for a personally grounded criticism that is not necessarily overtly autobiographical but that is always *intense*. I also found this chapter valuable in finding other examples of personal criticism as well as references to other discussions of this method.

The other essays in this collection are sometimes inspiring as examples of personal criticism, but I have to admit I'm more interested in the technique of writing (and writing seriously) than in the topics she writes about. You may find the opposite.