Simone de Beauvoir Writing the Self Philosophy Becomes Autobiography

Subjects:

• Philosophy » Philosophy (General)
• Literature » World Literature
• Women's Studies » Women in Literature & the Arts

Reviews:

• ...stands out as a worthy text which could easily be used in a philosophy or literature course presenting The Second Sex. It is a very understandable and valuable addition to current Beauvoirian scholarship.
  —Biography
• De Beauvoir's literary attempt at self-construction is self-consciously an act of transcendence in whic de Beauvoir attempts to give due credit to the limits imposed on the self by social situation and by the transcendence of others. The tensions in and complexity of this project emerge well from Pilardi's discussion.
  —Philosophy in Review

• Endorsement From Professor Clarinda Harriss, Chair
  English Department, Towson University: This lucid, authoritative book does a superb job in demonstrating the power of autobiography as a means of 'solving the self.' As one who uses autobiography in several academic and research contexts, I am delighted to see two such rigorous minds as Jo-Ann Pilardi's and Simone de Beauvoir's meeting in the field of autobiographical study--a field all too often cursed by Warm Fuzziness.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Self and Other in Beauvoir's Early Essays
• Self and Other in The Second Sex
• Techniques for Writing the Self
• Writing the Self: The Child
• Writing the Self: The Woman in Love
• Writing the Self: The Writer
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index