At the beginning of her forthcoming “Autobiography”, Leslie Scalapino quotes Paul de Man's deconstructive account of the relation between autobiography and life: “We assume that life produces the autobiography as an act produces its consequences, but can we not suggest, with equal justice, that the autobiographical project may itself produce and determine the life . . .?” De Man's statement goes further to suggest that referentiality to the life behind and within the autobiography is an “illusion”, one made to the “the structure of the figure”. His reflection upon the importance of the figure is a telling opening for Scalapino's own personal testimony about the life in her writing, and the w

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First published 24 January 2002

Citation: Hinton, Laura. "Leslie Scalapino". The Literary Encyclopedia. 24 January 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3949, accessed 21 November 2009.]