In Their Own Minds Narrative and Identity in the Works of David Sedaris and David Rakoff

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Dimino, Andrea

Keywords

Magazine, Contemporary, Author, Humor, Humorist, Journalism, Participatory, Narrative, Identity, Immigrant, Essay, Interview, Self-Deprecating, Transcript, This American Life, Strangers With Candy, Sedaris, Amy, Vowell, Sarah, Glass, Ira

Area of Concentration

British and American Literature

Abstract

Often dubbed humorists, contemporary authors David Sedaris and David Rakoff elicit a wider range of reader response by combining participatory journalism, storytelling, social criticism and memoir. Both authors work in a wide range of media, from print to theatre and radio, both use a razor's edge of biting wit and satire, and both prize the ability to upset the reader. In such works as Barrel Fever (1994), Naked (1997), Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000) and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (2004), Sedaris writes more from remembered experience and employs his meticulously detailed diaries for inspiration. He orally revises his work by testing essays on live audiences before publishing or broadcasting them. Rakoff uses his training as a journalist to create participatory feature pieces for national publication as well as personal essays for his collections, Fraud (2001) and Don't Get Too Comfortable (2005). Sedaris and Rakoff combine the best qualities of traditional American works by such authors as Mark Twain and Dorothy Parker, the long, loosely structured, often transgressive works pioneered by the New Journalists and the emergent New New Journalists who focus on socioeconomic critiques, and a wide range of classic and contemporary international authors. Due to a scarcity of criticism on both of these authors I used Sedaris and Rakoff as an important resource in this thesis, conducting in-depth interviews with both authors. In the thesis as a whole, I cover such issues as developing personal identity within the narrative, using humor as a defense mechanism, and writing for different audiences. I incorporate the two interviews within the text of the thesis in order to engage authors more directly in the process of literary criticism.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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