The autobiography, or memoir, is the voice of the 21st century, as contemporary American author and memoirist Patricia Hampl explained in her lecture “Sacrament of Self: Catholic Roots of Contemporary Memoir” Wednesday night at the Dolan School of Business.
“The universe has meaning and we are here to tell our stories,” said Hampl. “It is our quest.”
Hampl, a devout Catholic with a Master’s degree in fine arts, has published many works of fiction, poetry, essays and memoirs.
The memoir is not not the same “odd-duck book” that it used to be, she said.
Hampl said that she did not think she was capable of writing a memoir, for memoirs were for “old retired army veterans and women who led provocative lives.”
However, while writing her first Christian memoir, Hampl was unsure of her approach. “I am not going to take cheap shots at the nuns,” she said jokingly.
Hampl said that memoirs may seem like a reflective outlet for the writer, but they may also provide the reader with greater insight into their own life.
“We seek not self, but a soul,” said Hampl. “This is what readers are seeking in memoirs.”
It is easy to get lost in the craze of pop culture and it is something that has developed in us all, Hampl said. “We like to be shocked- we think about it as reality.”
The form of the memoir is a representative way to express this value, and “to say you have value is to say you have a soul,” said Hampl.
Reflective essays such as “The Crack-Up” by F. Scott Fitzgerald are the most important types of writing, a genre she referred to as “Catholic confessional.”
The confessional piece of literature, she said, is the most sacramental in “revealing consciousness and seeking the soul.”
Historical documentations such as The Diary of Anne Frank and Malcolm X’s memoir also provide insights that would never have been published if not for the author’s reflections.
The key to the memoir is the work it is driven by, according to Hampl. Reflective forms of literature such as Fitzgerald’s famous American novel The Great Gatsby would be drastically different if it were not written in first person. In this way, the reader is able to see the goal of the great American Dream, said Hampl.
Audience member Allison Hughes said she found Hampl’s lecture fascinating.
“It showed a lot I didn’t know about literature,” Hughes said.
Dr. Nancy Dallavalle, head of the Religious Studies department, said Hampl’s view on seeking the self and not the soul “really reaches out, and it makes community.”
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