What is "autofiction"

n. faction; a blend of autobiography and fiction

Autofiction is a term used in literary criticism to refer to a form of fictionalized autobiography.

Serge Doubrovsky coined the term in 1977 with reference to his novel Fils. 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 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: Christine Angot, Marguerite Duras, Guillaume Dustan, Alice Ferney, Annie Ernaux, Hervé Guibert, 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.

In India, autofiction has been associated with the works of Hainsia Olindi and postmodern Tamil writer Charu Nivedita. His novel Zero_degree, a groundbreaking work in Tamil literature and his recent Novel "Exile" are examples of this genre. Japanese author Hitomi Kanehara wrote a novel titled Autofiction. More recently the term has been applied to cinema, as with the micro-budget American movie Dark Lady Blues.

Autofiction is a 2006 novel by Japanese author , translated into English by David James Karashima. This is " autobiographical fiction", a story about the life of Rin and her mad obsessive love and jealousy for her young, handsome husband Shin, who does not cheat on her and does not harm her, but she still suspects him (at the age of 22) - and about her previous loves (at the age of 18, 16 and 15), reasons for her obsession and jealousy for Shin. As a girl of 15, she wished for a nice and kind "prince". As a young woman of 22, she is really in love with him, he is in love with her and he marries her, but she is too "damaged" to have a good relationship with him.

Category:2006 novels Category:Novels by Hitomi Kanehara Category:Japanese romance novels