Using autobiographies in business history: a narratological analysis of Jules Joubert's Shavings and Scrapes

Authors

James Reveley, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

34079

Publication Details

Reveley, J. (2010). Using autobiographies in business history: a narratological analysis of Jules Joubert's Shavings and Scrapes. Australian Economic History Review: an Asia-Pacific journal of economic, business and social history, 50 (3), 284-305.

Abstract

Entrepreneur autobiographies provide business historians with the opportunity to connect storytelling and identity, topics that are now prominent in economic debate. Yet lingering concern about the subjectivity of life writing prevents wider use of autobiographies within business history. This article seeks to allay such concern by applying the narratological method to the colonial entrepreneur Jules Joubert's autobiography, Shavings and Scrapes. Joubert's narrative identity is as an ‘adventurer’. This identity shored up his self-image and was used by him to enhance his reputation. Narratology shows that an autobiography can stabilise and publicise the colonial entrepreneur's narrative identity, thereby benefiting their business career.