Semi-autobiographical
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Also known as a thinly veiled memoir, a semi-autobiographical novel or work of autofiction draws heavily on the experiences of the author's own life for its plot. Authors may opt to write a semi-autobiographical novel rather than a true autobiographical novel or memoir for a variety of reasons: to protect the privacy of their family, friends, and loved ones; to achieve emotional distance from the subject; or for artistic reasons, such as simplification of plot lines, themes, and other details.
Autofiction
Autofiction is a term used in literary criticism
Coined by Serge Doubrovsky in 1977 with reference to his novel Fils, autofiction refers to form of fictionalized autobiography. Autofiction combines two paradoxically contradictory styles: that of autobiography, and fiction. An author may decide to recount his/her life in the third person, to modify significant details or 'characters', using fiction in the service of a search for self. It has parallels with the faction, a genre devised by Truman Capote to describe his novel In Cold Blood
Autofiction is principally a genre associated with contemporary French authors, among them: Alice Ferney, Annie Ernaux, Michel Houellebecq Olivia Rosenthal, Anne Wiazemsky, and Vassilis Alexakis. Catherine Millet's 2002 memoir The Sexual Life of Catherine M. famously used autofiction to explore the author's sexual experiences. [1] [Apr 2007]
