I, etcetera

Over the past few years there has been a marked use of the first-person singular in a broad range of cultural practices, including contemporary art, literature, and criticism. Although it goes by any number of names—autobiography, autofiction, confession, epistle, memoir, personal essay—which each have a specific history and structure, its increased use in our current moment suggests a common impulse and points to a novel conception of the author that is represented in the work of Moyra Davey, Chris Kraus, and Maggie Nelson.