<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> Over the last decade or so, David Lodge has become not only a reader but also an avid practitioner of “fact-based writing” - be it the biographical novel (The Master of 2004 and A Man of Parts 2011), the autobiographical novel (Deaf Sentence of 2008), the biographical essay (Lives in Writing of 2014) and - finally - a proper autobiography (Quite a Good Time to Be Born of 2015). The aim of this paper is to analyse Lodge’s recent turn to life narratives and, in particular, his autobiographical story of 2015; and, consequently, to address the following questions: Does Lodge’s memoir offer “an experiment in autobiography” (to quote H.G. Wells, one of Lodge’s favourites), or remain a conventional life story immune to the tenets of contemporary life writing? Is it the work of a (self- )historian, or a novelist? Does it belong to the “regime of truth,” or is it the product of memory? Finally, is it, indeed, a memoir (as its subtitle claims), or a specimen of self-biography? The paper will show special interest in the work’s generic characteristics and will offer an attempt to locate Quite a Good Time to Be Born on the map of contemporary life writing practices.</p></abstract>

Over the last decade or so, David Lodge has become not only a reader but also an avid practitioner of “fact-based writing” - be it the biographical novel (The Master of 2004 and A Man of Parts 2011), the autobiographical novel (Deaf Sentence of 2008), the biographical essay (Lives in Writing of 2014) and - finally - a proper autobiography (Quite a Good Time to Be Born of 2015). The aim of this paper is to analyse Lodge’s recent turn to life narratives and, in particular, his autobiographical story of 2015; and, consequently, to address the following questions: Does Lodge’s memoir offer “an experiment in autobiography” (to quote H.G. Wells, one of Lodge’s favourites), or remain a conventional life story immune to the tenets of contemporary life writing? Is it the work of a (self- )historian, or a novelist? Does it belong to the “regime of truth,” or is it the product of memory? Finally, is it, indeed, a memoir (as its subtitle claims), or a specimen of self-biography? The paper will show special interest in the work’s generic characteristics and will offer an attempt to locate Quite a Good Time to Be Born on the map of contemporary life writing practices.

Scholar – Fictionist – Memoirist: David Lodge’s Documentary (Self-)Biography in Quite a Good Time to be Born: 1935–1975

Department of Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture, Institute of English Studies, Jagiellonian University, ul. Karmelicka 41, 31–128 Kraków,

Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Over the last decade or so, David Lodge has become not only a reader but also an avid practitioner of “fact-based writing” - be it the biographical novel (The...

Scholar – Fictionist – Memoirist: David Lodge’s Documentary (Self-)Biography in Quite a Good Time to be Born: 1935–1975

Published Online: Dec 08, 2016

Page range: 115 - 131

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/stap-2016-0005

Keywords
David Lodge, memoir, auto/biography, documentary biography

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Scholar – Fictionist – Memoirist: David Lodge’s Documentary (Self-)Biography in Quite a Good Time to be Born: 1935–1975

Published Online: Dec 08, 2016

Page range: 115 - 131

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/stap-2016-0005

KeywordsDavid Lodge, memoir, auto/biography, documentary biography

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
David Lodge, memoir, auto/biography, documentary biography