Why Memoir?

If you have been keeping up with my blog, then you'll know that I am currently reading a memoir entitled Reading Lolita in Tehran for my English class. Now, I have not had a ton of experience with memoir, so I set off to learn a little more about it. As I was perusing the blogosphere, I came across the blog of one of my classmates: Style and Structure: The Art of Writing (it's a quality blog that I suggest you check out in addition to mine). She had written a nice post about what makes a good memoir. It seemed to me that what makes a good memoir is almost the same as what makes a good novel: the story must not be too mundane, it must have structure along with developed characters and should include "situations with high-stakes circumstances." The question I still have though, is why memoir?

Throughout RLiT, Nafisi praises fiction and novels to the highest degree. Perhaps she is a little biased being an English professor, but I tend to agree with her when she discusses the power of great novels including their ablity to make us question reality. I don't want to dishonor her by paraphrasing so I'll just list a few choice quotes where her affinity for fiction is apparent...

• "Every fairy tale offers the potential to surpass present limits, so in a sense the fair tale offers you freedoms that reality denies."
• "There is an affirmation of life [which] lies in the way the author takes control of reality by retelling it in his own way, thus creating a new world."
• "The perfection and beauty of form rebels against the ugliness and shabbiness of the subject matter"
• "This other world that is only attainable through fiction...becomes their refuge in a life that is constantly brutal."

I think Nafisi's passion for fiction is awesome. But, the question of "why memoir?" is bouncing around my head even more now. If she truly believes in the power of fiction, then why write a memoir? Why not a novel? Isn't it easier to get your message across if you can manipulate the story and the characters? I'm sure at some point in writing RLiT, Nafisi wished she could tweak something or write in a few fabricated details.

I guess the obvious answer to "why memoir?" is that memoirs do not allow the reader to dismiss the story if it makes him/her uncomfortable. The reader cannot merely brush it aside by labeling it made-up or pretend. Memoirs force you to acknowledge the reality of the story being told. But, I felt like there was something more. So I typed in "why memoir?" into google, and this blog post showed up right away: Why Memoir? by Louise DeSalvo on Writingalife's Blog.

Despite the typo in the first paragraph ;), it gives some quality insight into the benefits of memoir. DeSalvo, asserts that memoir is about revealing the experience of life through memory. Memoir creates an intimate connection between the author and reader. Because the author is writing from their own memory, the reader sees everything the author sees, feels everything the author feels. The reader of a good memoir will get to know the author, empathize with them and become a witness to their story. This direct connection to the reader is what allows the author to effectively "transmit to humankind the memory of what we endured in body and soul." Empathy and connection to characters are big parts of fiction as well, but I believe that the level of intimacy between author and reader is unique to memoir and Nafisi probably realized this when deciding how to best tell her story.