Introduction
Résumé
Women Activists and Civil Rights Leaders in Auto/Biographical Literature and Cinema argues that the recognition of autobiography as activism has paved the way for the biographical turn by highlighting “the capacity of an individual life to reflect broad historical change.” Some historians lament the focus on private life that undermines the “grand narratives” of the past and neglects the importance of historical process by shifting attention away from political developments as well as social and economic dynamics. We posit that life writing—in the form of autobiographies translating the subjective perspective of their author or biographies transcribed by different authors—is a source of artistic creativity that enables us to take a fresh look at history.