The Anatomy of Authentic Autobiographic Narratives

Abstract

The diversity of form is what has characterized autobiographical discourse since the beginning of the Western literary narrative tradition. One of the consequences of this diversity is the complexity and ambiguity of the explanation of this term, the autobiography being historically classified as one of the oldest forms of narrative, its construction model being associated with the paradigm of the ancient novel. The value of the autobiography derives from the act of writing, but also from the authenticity of the testimony presented in accordance with other documents, which describe the same events in the life of the autobiographer. The autobiography should not be read as a document of the past, but as an elaboration of consciousness or an interface between the past and the future, between experience and recollection, between the subject that reflects on writing and the text itself. The reader of an autobiographical text must insist on the authenticity and identity of the author of the text and the author from within the text, because only here the reader can find his own authenticity.

Cuvinte-cheie: Alexei Marinat, identitatea naratorului, autobiografie, autenticitate, memorialistică

REZUMAT

Diversitatea formei este ceea ce a caracterizat discursul autobiografic încă de la începutul tradiţiei narative literare occidentale. Una dintre consecinţele acestei diversităţi este complexitatea şi ambiguitatea descrierii termenului, autobiografia fiind istoric clasificată ca una dintre cele mai vechi forme de naraţiune, modelul său de construcţie fiind asociat paradigmei romanului antic. Valoarea autobiografiei derivă din actul scriiturii, dar şi din veridicitatea dovezilor prezentate în concordanţă cu alte documente, care descriu aceleaşi evenimente din viaţa autobiografului. Autobiografia nu trebuie citită ca un document al trecutului, ci ca o elaborare a conştiinţei sau o interfaţă dintre trecut şi viitor, dintre experienţă şi rememorare, dintre subiectul care reflectă asupra scrierii şi textul propriu-zis. Cititorul unui text autobiografic trebuie să insiste asupra autenticităţii şi identităţii autorului textului şi autorului din text, deoarece doar aici cititorul îşi poate regăsi propria autenticitate.

LANGUAGE OF PUBLICATION

English

UDC: 821.135.1(478).09-94 

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Received: February 6, 2020 | Reviewed: February 19, 2020 | Accepted for publication: March 1, 2020

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