Self in the autobiographies of M K Gandhi Amrita Pritam and A P J Abdul Kalam a critical Study

Abstract

The word autobiography was first used by William Taylor in 1799 in the English newlineperiodical Monthly Review. Autobiography consists of two words Auto means newline Self and Biography which means The history of particular men s live newline(Dryden). An autobiography is a written account of an autobiographer by him/her newlineself. Smita Raj in her research paper writes, For a writer s point of view, an newlineautobiography is a self-expression of truth of his own life (Raj 704). She further newlinewrites, The term autobiography was derived from the Greek word autobiographia newlinewhich means self-life writing . An autobiography is a dynamic source newlinewhich provides actual facts regarding the individual writer s life and experiences newline(Raj 705).The term personality is derived from Latin word PERSONA which means newline Mask that was worn by Greeks in performing on stage. Psychologists have newlinedefined personality according to their experiences. In day to day life, everyone newlinestands differently to others in thinking, tendencies, feelings, learning, emotions, newlineand ways of reacting to the various incidents and events in social context and newlineenvironment. Allport has given his definition of personality after 49 definitions. H. newlineJ. Eysenck also contributed his views on personality. Eysenck was impressed very newlinemuch by Kretschmer, Jung, Gallen and Spearman. Eysenck has written more than newline30 books and 600 articles. According to Allport s Trait theory, Gandhi s personality shows different newlinecharacteristics which are seen in his My Experiments with Truth. From his newlineautobiography and according to Allport s Trait theory, Gandhi s personality can be newlinedescribed under following headings: Cardinal traits, Central traits, Secondary traits newlineand Common traits. According to Allport s Trait theory, Kalam s personality can be divided into newlineCardinal traits, Central traits, Secondary traits and Common traits.