On Unreliability of Memories: the Case of Autofiction Trilogy by J. M. Coetzee Cover Image

O nespolehlivosti vzpomínek: případ autofikční trilogie J. M. Coetzeeho
On Unreliability of Memories: the Case of Autofiction Trilogy by J. M. Coetzee

Author(s): Jan Tlustý
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Ústav svetovej literatúry, Slovenská akadémia vied
Keywords: Coetzee; Autobiography; Autrebiography; Autofiction; Identity

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the fictionalized reminiscent narration (so-called autofiction) in J. M. Coetzee’s loose trilogy Boyhood (1997), Youth (2002) and Summertime (2009). The autofictional nature of Coetzee’s books is based on a double, intersecting pact between the author tion of the author’s life, but on the other hand the narrative contains marks of fictionalization, which call this depiction into question or cancel it. By this tension, Coetzee thematizes noetic questions of the nature of human memory and identity, and reflects on the very core of autobiographical writing. In addition, the paper briefly discusses Coetzee’s conception of so-called autrebiography.

  • Issue Year: V/2013
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 105-116
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Czech