Autobiographical Acts THE CHANGING SITUATION OF A LITERARY GENRE The Johns Hopkins University Press BALTIMORE AND LONDONCopyright © 1976 by The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, xerography, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Manufactured in the United States of America The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland 21218 ‘The Johns Hopkins Press Ltd., London Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 76~13460 ISBN 0-8018-1821-4 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data will be found on the last printed page of this book.‘Two separate interests converged to produce this study: first, a concern to explain the mode of existence of a literary genre, how it changes while remaining the same; second, a desire to make more flexible and relevant use of linguistics in literary criticism. Professors Marvin Fel- heim and Richard W. Bailey provoked my curiosity and prodded me to refine my questions when I was their student at the University of Michigan. I am also indebted to Professor Jean Starobinski of the University of Geneva for his generous response to the letter of an unknown graduate student, to Professor John Searle of the University of California—Berkeley for his stimulating remarks at the summer institute of the Linguistic Society of America (SUNY—Buffalo, 1971), to Professor William Heath of Amherst College for reading and encour- aging my revised work, and finally to the trustees of Amherst College for their financial support. There is no adequate way for me to acknowledge here the patience, advice, and persistent attention of my chief critic, Neal Bruss.