Rhetorical dimensions of 20th century depression memoirs: Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, William Styron's Darkness Visible, & Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind

"This is a rhetorical analysis of three popular autobiographical acts about depression from the American 20th century: Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, William Styron’s Darkness Visible and Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind. This dissertation explores the question: how do these memoirs of depression work as rhetorical texts? Two distinct, yet interrelated, levels of analysis are undertaken through an orientation of ""deep reading"" in an effort to illuminate the rhetorical dimensions of these enduring and best selling autobiographical works. First, I review the ways these authors generate identification with readers in the face of a suffering that casts its agents as unreliable narrators. Second, I demonstrate how these texts enter into dialogue with technical and public discourses of their time, shifting the grounds of appeal towards more personal considerations. Both of these analyses work to illuminate how these popular books emerge as rhetorically powerful interventions in 20th century discourses on depression, mental illness, and meaningful living more generally."

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Speech Communication

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2016

Author dc:creator

• Martinez, Jermaine

Contributors dc:contributor

• O'Gorman, Ned
• Miller, Peggy
• Murphy, John
• Kral, Michael

• Rhetorical Theory
• Rhetorical Criticism
• Mental Illness
• Narrative
• Depression
• Public Argument
• Autobiography
• Mood Memoirs
• Emotion
• Selfhood
• Authenticity
• 20th Century

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2016 Jermaine Martinez

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90555

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90555