ABSTRACT
It might be tempting for an aspiring journalist to present the odyssey of contemporary criticism and the return of many academic theorists to autobiographical writing as a parable of prodigal sons and daughters. After wandering and erring in theoretical wilderness they finally return home, to the “real world” of “authentic” personal voice. So why do they look back now and become enticed again by critical reflection? It seems that the greater taboo is not to cross over from critical to personal writing but to criss-cross between scholarship and autobiography, to mix genres and change voices, especially in the space of a single work. For how can one be at home in more than one place?
