Abstract
This article situates John Singer Sargent’s Portrait of Madame X (1884) alongside two textual accounts of Madame X the historical figure, to examine hybrid life-writing genres’ possibilities and limitations in recapturing the nineteenth-century past. Our texts are Gioia Diliberto’s biographical novel I am Madame X (2003), and Deborah Davis’s creative non-fiction Strapless (2003). Their authorial attempts to restore the enigmatic woman in the painting to cultural memory – particularly in the absence of substantial archival evidence – illuminates the collision of history, fiction, art and narrative, thus providing a framework to interrogate biofiction and the politics of memory.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callSimilar Papers
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
