The Diary: The Epic of Everyday Life [Paperback]

The diary as a genre is found in all literate societies, and these autobiographical accounts are written by persons of all ranks and positions.The Diaryoffers an exploration of the form in its social, historical, and cultural-literary contexts with its own distinctive features, poetics, and rhetoric. The contributors to this volume examine theories and interpretations relating to writing and studying diaries; the formation of diary canons in the United Kingdom, France, United States, and Brazil; and the ways in which handwritten diaries are transformed through processes of publication and digitization. The authors also explore different diary formats, including the travel diary, the private diary, conflict diaries written during periods of crisis, and the diaries of the digital era, such as blogs.The Diaryoffers a comprehensive overview of the genre, synthesizing decades of interdisciplinary study to enrich our understanding of, research about, and engagement with the diary as literary form and historical documentation.

Elizabeth R. Baer is Research Professor of English and African Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. She is co-editor (with Hester Baer) ofShadows on My Heartand (with Myrna Goldenberg) ofExperience and Expressionand author ofThe Golem ReduxandThe Genocidal Gaze.

James Baker is Lecturer in Digital History and Archives at the University of Sussex, England, specializing in the history of long eighteenth century Britain and born digital archives and archiving circa 1990 to the present.

Sergio da Silva Barcellos is Post-Doctorate at Universidade Unigranrio, Rio de Janeiro, through the PNPD program of Capes Foundation, from the Ministry of Education of Brazil.

Batsheva Ben-Amosis Adjunct Professor of Comparative Literature in the College of Professional and Liberal Arts at the University of Pennsylvania and a practicing clinician al“À