ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 starts where Milner begins: with her first published autobiographical book A Life of One’s Own (1934). Written almost ten years prior to Milner’s becoming a psychoanalyst, this book marks the beginning of Milner’s developing her own therapeutic methods of diary keeping. In this early book Milner deliberately carves out a space for herself and her method, positioning it as a rival to the psychoanalytic talking cure. A term that she coins three years later in 1937, “the Answering Activity” describes an emotional receptivity provided by certain ways of writing and is considered in relation to Milner’s therapeutic efforts in A Life. This term, along with Milner’s notion of “bead memories” are analysed for how they might deepen our understanding of diary keeping and the autobiographical subject.
