Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Living History" and the Genres of Authenticity
680 views · Published 1 April 2014 · 1:22:30 · Indexed 6 November 2026
Channel: GBH Forum Network · 2014 · Education
In the early 21st century, memoir culture, celebrity culture, and U.S. political culture have converged as Presidential wannabes publish memoir after memoir, thereby converting "a life" into money, message, and conduit for voter attachment. Hillary Clinton's best-selling autobiography Living History (2003) implicitly announced her Presidential bid, mobilizing personal storytelling to convince readers that this Senator and feminist First Lady could be President. Dr. Smith explores how the genres of Clinton's Living History produce, or not, the authenticity effect of a "real Hillary," the convincing persona that is always at stake in the political field; and how both the narrating and narrated "Hillarys" do and undo the gendered idioms of political power.
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