What Is Autobiography? Characteristics and Examples of Autobiographies
What Is Autobiography? Characteristics and Examples of Autobiographies
We can begin to answer the question, "What is autobiography?" by explaining the term's literal meaning. The word "autobiography" can be translated as "a life written by oneself" by combining the words auto (self), bios (life), and graphein (write) from Ancient Greek. The word also implies a signature. (1) Based on this, a brief definition of autobiography can be stated as the life story written by an individual about themselves. As a literary genre, autobiography is distinct from biography, which is the life story of a person written by someone else. Among the globally renowned examples of autobiographies are Chris Brown's "Graffiti," Stephen Hawking's "My Brief History," Gorki's "My Childhood," and Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes."
You can find more details about the characteristics and examples of autobiography in the continuation of the text.
What Is Autobiography?
Autobiography, a popular literary genre for centuries, can be defined as a person's biography written by themselves. An author shares their experiences, evaluates them within a broader cultural or historical context, or informs the reader about their entire life or a portion of it. The first known example of autobiography in Western literature is attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo, who wrote his "Confessions," a 13-book work, between AD 397 and 400. (2)
Other autobiographical works from ancient times include the "Vita" of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, written around AD 99, and the work "Oration 1" by the Greek scholar Libanius, dating back to AD 374. These works are referred to as apologias, which essentially mean "in defense." Authors approach these works not as acts of self-documentation but as a means of explaining and justifying their lives, work, and mistakes (2).
When Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "Confessions" was published in 1782, it paved the way for thought and emotion-focused autobiographies of today. Starting from the 20th century, more people began to write autobiographies. Perhaps the most famous example of the genre is "The Diary of Anne Frank," which recounts Anne Frank's time hiding from the Nazis in an attic in Amsterdam.
While some autobiographies adhere to a simple narrative that recalls a chronological chain of events, others expand and develop the genre by incorporating different narrative forms.
Types of Autobiography
Authors choose the format of their autobiographies based on their purposes for writing about their lives, resulting in various types of autobiographies. Depending on the format, autobiographies can be categorized in different ways. An author may write their entire life story or a specific segment of it to address a problem and help themselves and others overcome similar experiences. However, some may simply write their life story for the sake of storytelling. Autobiographies can be broadly categorized based on content as thematic, religious, intellectual, and fictional, but they can also be grouped by writing style as follows (1,3):
Standard Autobiographies
These are the most classic autobiographies in which authors narrate their lives or specific events from their lives. They often include a chronological account of events, but they are not bound to follow this order. An author may recount their life story in flashbacks or in a non-linear fashion. Examples of standard autobiographies include Benjamin Franklin's "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" and Nikola Tesla's "My Inventions and My Life."
Memoirs
A memoir reflects a momentary snapshot of a person's life. The memoir format is narrower in scope and focus compared to a full autobiography. It concentrates on a specific part of a person's life that stands out as a learning experience or something worth sharing. A standard autobiography may include memoirs, but the memoir genre often deals with individual events, the emotions behind them, and the lessons learned. Many public figures have memoirs alongside their standard autobiographies. Examples include Tarık Akan's "Anne Kafamda Bit Var," Cemil Meriç's "Jurnal," and Henry David Thoreau's "Walden."
Fictional Autobiography
In fictional autobiography or auto-fiction, the author presents their story not as a documentary truth but in a fictional format. Creative elements come into play, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. The primary purpose here is often not to conceal the truth but to explore experiences that serve the author's self-discovery through different strategies. James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" falls into this category.
Spiritual Autobiographies
Spiritual autobiography focuses on the journey that a writer's religious or spiritual awakening and belief have led them on. Common elements include struggles and doubts, a life-altering transformation, periods of regression, and the sharing of a message. Spiritual autobiographies can also encompass confessions, the process of overcoming difficulties, or the treatment of a psychological disorder. Sharing one's story can help express deep emotions while also inspiring others and serving the purpose of self-healing. "Confessions" by Augustine and "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda are examples of spiritual autobiographies.
What Are the Characteristics of Autobiography?
Autobiography is the narration of a person's life in their own words. It is a highly intimate narrative genre because it reveals many details about personal life. It can also be said that the primary function of this literary genre is the literary expression of experiences. Its fundamental role is to allow readers to see the author's life experiences from their perspective. Autobiographies, which exist on the boundary between literature and history, also serve the function of internalizing what individuals discover on the journey they undertake until they reach where they are. The typical accepted characteristics of autobiography are as follows (4):
- Autobiography is characterized by the author being the main character of the stories being told.
- Autobiographies are expected to include important personal information such as the author's name, age, and date of birth.
- Family ties and the people who have had a significant impact on various aspects of the author's life are discussed.
- The author's academic status, places of education, achievements, and awards are included.
- The author has absolute freedom to express thoughts or feelings about events and their effects.
- Autobiography can be considered as a completely private confession in which the author reveals their most personal secrets.
- The author analyzes the events that have occurred throughout their life and evaluates them from their own perspective.
- Each author can determine their own writing format, and it is not necessary to follow a chronological order when narrating events.
- In autobiography, the author can choose the language and tone of expression they want to use. The narrative tone can be melodramatic, humorous, ironic, satirical, or nostalgic.
Sources:
https://literarydevices.net (3)
https://www.masterclass.com (4)
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