Lifework: On the Autobiographical Impulse in Contemporary Art, Writing, and Theory

Following the critical scepticism surrounding the notion of the 'self' as a singular entity during the 1960s, many artists and writers sought to test the apparent problem posed by autobiography as both a traditional genre and as a way of working. Considering the consequent emergence of autotheory, Lifework traces this shift in artistic and literary production during the late twentieth century and beyond, examining a set of diverse practices that mine the line between what it is to make art and what it is to live life. The book's chapters connect a variety of artistic strategies that cut across medium, geography and time, uncovering how the historical marginalisation of first-person experience has taken on larger social, cultural and political implications in the contemporary moment and how the work of living might still relate to the work of art.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1526194783
• ISBN13: 9781526194787
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Length: 334 Pages
• Weight: 1.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.7" x 9.6"