autofiktio

Autofiktio, or autofiction, is a literary mode in which elements of the author’s life are interwoven with fictional details. In autofiction, a first‑person narrator often mirrors the writer, but the boundary between fact and invention is intentionally blurred. The technique foregrounds memory, perception, and identity, while testing the reliability of narration and the nature of truth in storytelling.

The term was coined by the French writer Serge Doubrovsky in 1977 to describe a work that is both autobiographical and fictional, challenging the conventional separation between memoir and novel. Since then, autofiction has been developed and debated by writers worldwide, with variations in how explicitly the author’s life is disclosed and how much fiction is introduced. It is commonly associated with a self-reflexive, confessional tone and a focus on intimate topics such as family, relationships, and trauma, though it can address public life and history as well.

Distinct features of autofiction include the use of the first person, a self‑inserting narrator, and a deliberate blending of real events with invented material. The genre often invites readers to question what is true, what is imagined, and why the author chose to present reality in a particular way. It sits at the intersection of memoir, confessional writing, and metafiction, and it has influenced contemporary novels, narrative nonfiction, and cross‑media storytelling.

Prominent examples include Serge Doubrovsky’s Fils, Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle, and Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy, among others. While embraced for its honesty and experimental potential, autofiction also faces critique for blurred boundaries between authorial life and fiction and for issues of privacy and sensationalism.