BLURRING BOUNDARIES: THE RISE OF AUTOFICTION IN ON
EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS, MY STRUGGLE, AND THE ARGONAUTS
Dr. I. Jane Austen,
Assistant Professor,
Department of English
Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced
Studies,
Pallavaram, Chennai
Abstract:
This
paper explores the rise of autofiction through the lens of three seminal works:
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
by Ocean Vuong, My Struggle by
Karl Ove Knausgård, and The Argonauts
by Maggie Nelson. Autofiction, a hybrid genre blending autobiography and
fiction, challenges traditional boundaries between reality and imagination,
raising ethical and literary questions about self-representation. Through an
analysis of these texts, the paper examines how each author navigates personal
memory, trauma, and identity while questioning the reliability of narrative
truth. Vuong employs an epistolary form to bridge generational and linguistic
gaps, Knausgård embraces radical transparency to expose the contradictions of
memory, and Nelson merges personal narrative with critical theory to explore
gender and fluid identity. By engaging with critical perspectives on
autofiction, this paper highlights the genre’s role in reshaping contemporary
literature and its implications for truth, authorship, and literary innovation.
Keywords:
Autofiction,
Autobiography, Fiction, Self-representation, Personal memory
Introduction
The rise of
autofiction in contemporary literature has reshaped the boundaries between fact
and fiction, allowing authors to blend memoir and novelistic storytelling.
Autofiction challenges conventional distinctions between truth and imagination,
constructing narratives that blur reality while providing intimate explorations
of identity, memory, and personal history. This paper examines how autofiction
functions in Ocean Vuong’sOn Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019), Karl
Ove Knausgård’sMy Struggle (2009–2011), and Maggie Nelson’s The
Argonauts (2015). These texts not only highlight the tension between
autobiography and fiction but also explore themes of self-representation,
trauma, and literary innovation.
Defining
Autofiction
The term
“autofiction,” coined by Serge Doubrovsky in 1977, refers to a hybrid genre
where authors fictionalize their own lives. Autofiction, as defined by scholar
Leigh Gilmore, is "a performative act of self-writing that both claims and
denies the status of autobiography" (Gilmore 12). It differs from
traditional autobiography in that it deliberately incorporates novelistic
techniques, leaving readers to navigate the ambiguity between lived experience
and constructed narrative.
On
Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous: Trauma, Memory, and the Epistolary Form
Ocean Vuong’sOn
Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a novel that intricately weaves
autobiography and fiction, presenting an intimate, epistolary narrative that
underscores the challenges of self-representation, memory, and identity. By
structuring the novel as a letter from Little Dog, a Vietnamese-American writer,
to his illiterate mother, Vuong foregrounds a central paradox: the act of
writing, intended as a means of communication, simultaneously alienates its
intended recipient. This paradox reflects a broader theme in autofiction—the
tension between the desire to capture personal history and the inevitable
transformation of that history through the act of storytelling.
The novel’s
self-referential nature is evident in the line, “I am writing to reach you—even if each word I put down is one word
further from where you are” (Vuong 4). Here, Vuong acknowledges the
limitations of language, suggesting that the act of writing is both an attempt
to connect and a force that distances. This statement encapsulates the struggle
inherent in autofiction: while the narrative seeks to preserve personal truth,
it simultaneously alters and reconstructs the past through literary expression.
Writing does not serve as a direct window into lived experience but rather as
an interpretative act, filtered through memory, emotion, and artistic
intention.
Vuong’s work
aligns with Paul John Eakin’s assertion that autobiography is not a static
recollection of the past but an ongoing process of self-creation: “We become the autobiographical narratives by
which we ‘tell about’ our lives” (Eakin 2). This perspective highlights
how personal identity is shaped through storytelling—autobiographical writing
is not simply a reflection of a pre-existing self but a means of constructing
that self. In On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Little Dog’s narrative is
not just an account of his past but an attempt to understand and define his
identity within the cultural and familial structures that shape him.
The novel’s
fragmented, nonlinear structure mirrors the instability of memory and trauma.
Rather than adhering to a chronological sequence, the narrative shifts between
different periods of Little Dog’s life, reflecting the way trauma disrupts
conventional storytelling. This approach aligns with trauma theory, which
suggests that traumatic memories are often disjointed and difficult to
articulate in a linear fashion. Scholar Leigh Gilmore argues that “autobiographical writing, particularly when
dealing with trauma, resists traditional narrative coherence” (Gilmore
45). Vuong’s use of fragmented storytelling, lyrical prose, and sudden shifts
in time reflects the fragmented nature of traumatic memory, reinforcing the
novel’s autofictional tension.
Another
significant aspect of the novel is the symbolic role of Vuong’s mother’s
illiteracy. Little Dog’s mother, a survivor of war and displacement, cannot
read the very letter that her son composes for her. Her illiteracy serves as a
powerful metaphor for the unbridgeable gap between lived experience and its
literary representation. The written word, while an attempt to preserve
history, becomes inaccessible to the very person whose story it seeks to tell.
This tension underscores the limitations of language and the ways in which
literature, despite its ability to evoke deep emotional truths, can never fully
encapsulate the raw reality of lived experience.
Moreover, Vuong’s
poetic prose style transforms the novel into an artistic meditation on memory
and identity. As a celebrated poet, Vuong brings a lyrical intensity to his
storytelling, using metaphor and imagery to heighten emotional resonance. While
this stylistic choice enhances the narrative’s depth, it also reinforces the
idea that memory, when rendered in literature, is always subject to aesthetic
shaping. The poetic language adds a layer of artifice, blurring the line
between autobiographical truth and creative embellishment—one of the defining
characteristics of autofiction. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
exemplifies the complexities of autofiction by exploring the paradoxes of
memory, trauma, and self-representation. Vuong’s epistolary format, nonlinear
structure, and poetic language highlight the tension between reality and its
literary reconstruction. By acknowledging the constructed nature of his
narrative, Vuong invites readers to question the very act of storytelling—how
we remember, how we write, and how we attempt to bridge the gaps between past
and present, self and other, reality and fiction.
My
Struggle: Radical Transparency and the Limits of Truth
Karl Ove
Knausgård’s My Struggle stands as one of the most extreme examples of
autofiction’s commitment to radical honesty, challenging the boundaries between
personal truth and literary construction. Across its six volumes, Knausgård
recounts his life in exhaustive detail, chronicling everything from the banalities
of daily existence to deeply personal and painful experiences. His work blurs
the line between confession and fiction, forcing readers to question the nature
of literary truth, the ethics of self-exposure, and the responsibilities of an
author when writing about real people.
A striking feature
of My Struggle is Knausgård’s willingness to document his life with
unflinching candor. The novel’s radical transparency, which includes
reflections on his relationships, insecurities, failures, and even his father’s
death, pushes the limits of what readers expect from autobiographical writing.
By stripping away traditional narrative embellishments and avoiding dramatic
plot structures, Knausgård’s style gives the impression of unmediated reality.
However, this perception is deceptive. As scholar Ben Jeffery argues, “the very
claim to absolute honesty becomes a paradox because the act of writing
inevitably involves selection, omission, and interpretation” (Jeffery 64).
Thus, My Struggle both pursues and resists pure autobiographical truth,
making its autofictional status all the more complex.
Knausgård himself
acknowledges this contradiction, as seen in his statement: “For the heart, life is simple: it beats for
as long as it can. Then it stops” (Knausgård 3). This passage
encapsulates the novel’s broader project—seeking to capture life’s raw,
unfiltered realities while simultaneously acknowledging the impossibility of
fully representing them in writing. The novel is not just a recollection of
past events but an act of re-creation, subject to the distortions of memory,
perspective, and the passage of time.
The
Argonauts: Gender, Identity, and Theoretical Autofiction
Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts exemplifies
autofiction’s capacity to merge personal experience with intellectual inquiry,
creating a fluid, hybrid text that resists traditional genre boundaries.
Drawing from the Greek myth of the Argo—a ship whose parts are gradually
replaced while still retaining its identity—Nelson uses this metaphor to
explore the fluidity of gender, queerness, and motherhood, particularly in
relation to her partner Harry Dodge’s gender transition and her own pregnancy.
Her assertion, “You’re the only one who
knows. And that knowledge is the only kind of closeness that really counts”
(Nelson 23), highlights autofiction’s intimate nature, emphasizing the act of
self-writing as both a personal excavation and an invitation for shared
understanding. Unlike Ocean Vuong and Karl Ove Knausgård, Nelson explicitly
incorporates critical theory, engaging with scholars like Roland Barthes and
Judith Butler, further complicating the interplay between memoir and academic
discourse. Scholar Rachael Sagnor notes that The Argonauts
demonstrates autofiction’s ability to “merge personal experience with critical
discourse, creating a hybrid text that is neither purely academic nor purely
narrative” (Sagnor 45). Through its fragmented structure and philosophical
reflections, Nelson’s work not only documents personal transformation but also
positions autofiction as a dynamic space where lived experience and theoretical
thought intersect. By refusing a singular narrative voice and instead embracing
multiplicity, Nelson challenges conventional ideas of identity, authorship, and
truth. The result is a deeply personal yet intellectually expansive work that
reshapes the boundaries of both memoir and theory, illustrating how autofiction
can function as both self-exploration and cultural critique.
Conclusion:
Autofiction’s Literary and Ethical Implications
The rise of autofiction,
as exemplified by On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, My Struggle,
and The Argonauts, reveals literature’s evolving relationship with
truth, self-representation, and narrative form. Vuong’s poetic memoir-fiction
hybrid, Knausgård’s radical self-exposure, and Nelson’s theoretical autofiction
each illustrate different facets of the genre’s possibilities. While
autofiction allows for deep personal exploration, it also raises questions
about ethics, memory, and the construction of literary identity. As autofiction
continues to shape contemporary literature, it challenges both writers and
readers to reconsider the nature of storytelling and the boundaries between
reality and imagination.
A defining feature
of autofiction is its ability to capture the fluidity of identity, illustrating
how memory and selfhood are constructed rather than fixed. Vuong, Knausgård,
and Nelson each grapple with this instability, whether through poetic
reflection, exhaustive self-documentation, or philosophical engagement. Their
works highlight how lived experiences, when filtered through writing, are
inevitably transformed, raising the question of whether any personal narrative
can ever be entirely truthful. As Paul John Eakin argues, “autobiographical truth is not a fixed but an
evolving content in an intricate process of self-discovery and self-creation”
(Eakin 34). Autofiction foregrounds this process, exposing the constructed
nature of identity even as it seeks to uncover personal truth.
Furthermore,
autofiction’s ethical dilemmas remain central to discussions about the genre.
Knausgård’s unfiltered depiction of his family and relationships demonstrates
how self-representation inevitably implicates others, sometimes with painful
consequences. Nelson, too, explores the responsibility of telling one’s story
when it intersects with the lives of others, particularly in her portrayal of
her partner Harry Dodge’s gender transition. Vuong’s novel, though more poetic
and elliptical, similarly questions the role of storytelling in shaping
collective memory, particularly in the context of migration and
intergenerational trauma. As Laura Marcus notes, autofiction often “problematizes the ethics of representing
others” (Marcus 21), forcing writers to navigate the tension between
self-expression and the privacy of those around them.
In addition to its
ethical complexities, autofiction challenges traditional literary structures by
rejecting clear distinctions between fiction and non-fiction. The fragmented,
nonlinear forms of Vuong’s and Nelson’s works reflect the instability of memory
and identity, while Knausgård’s exhaustive realism seeks to capture life in its
unfiltered totality. These diverse approaches illustrate autofiction’s ability
to reinvent narrative conventions, pushing literature toward new modes of
self-exploration. In doing so, the genre aligns with postmodern concerns about
authorship, subjectivity, and the unreliability of personal narrative.
As autofiction
continues to gain prominence, it reflects broader cultural shifts in how people
construct and consume narratives. In an era of digital self-curation, where
social media and personal branding blur the lines between public and private
identity, autofiction speaks to the ways in which personal stories are mediated
and performed. By embracing ambiguity and self-reflexivity, autofiction not
only transforms literary form but also invites readers to engage more
critically with questions of truth, memory, and identity. Ultimately, the
genre’s rise signals a deeper transformation in contemporary literature, one
that prioritizes lived experience while questioning the very nature of
storytelling itself.
Works
Cited
Eakin,
Paul John. How Our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves. Cornell
University Press, 1999.
Gilmore,
Leigh. The Limits of Autobiography: Trauma and Testimony. Cornell
University Press, 2001.
Knausgård,
Karl Ove. My Struggle: Book 1. Translated by Don Bartlett, Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 2012.
Marcus,
Laura. Autobiography: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University
Press, 2018.
Nelson,
Maggie. The Argonauts. Graywolf Press, 2015.
Sagnor,
Rachael. “Autofiction and the Intellectual Memoir: Blending Personal Narrative
with Critical Thought.” Journal of Literary Studies, vol. 35, no. 2,
2019, pp. 42-58.
Vuong,
Ocean. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Penguin Press, 2019.