In Vivian Gornick's view, a memoir achieves authenticity not by simply recounting factual occurrences but rather through the reader's recognition that the author is genuinely working to understand and articulate their lived experience. Gornick, raised as a red-diaper baby in the Bronx by working-class Jewish parents, built a distinguished career spanning literary criticism, journalism, and memoir writing. Her body of work offers a valuable perspective on New York City's cultural and political landscape during the latter half of the twentieth century. Her essays address the aspirations and disillusionment tied to American socialism, feminist activism and theory, the unique character of urban life in New York, and the broader tradition of American literature. She engages substantively with canonical authors, including Herman Melville, Emma Goldman, the Trillings, Mary McCarthy, Philip Roth, and Joan Didion, among others. Writing with rigor, humor, warmth, and self-awareness, Gornick investigates essential questions that remain urgent today, particularly regarding the memoir form and the personal essay in an era marked by increased skepticism. How do memoirs and other autobiographical forms of writing relate to fictional narratives and literary criticism? What varieties of political, philosophical, and historical understanding can be developed through memoir writing?
We will examine substantial passages from Gornick's key works, including The Romance of American Communism, Fierce Attachments: A Memoir, The Odd Woman in the City, and The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative, alongside selected critical essays addressing feminism, literature, New York culture, and the practices of careful rereading and literary interpretation. Our seminar considers these questions: How do we engage with Gornick's work in conversation with contemporary feminist scholarship and activism? What insights does Gornick's emphasis on documenting the "emotional dimensions of the Communist Party" provide for progressive organizers and thinkers in the present moment? What historical circumstances enabled the personal narrative to emerge as a crucial tool for expressing experiences of marginalization? What qualities distinguish a successful memoir from mere historical documentation, in Gornick's conception of literature?
This course will also be available in an online format.
