Both the postmodern debate about the death of the author and cultural debates about
constructing identities (national socio-political cultural ethnic sexual etc.) have led to
multiple attempts at redefining autobiography traditionally predicated on concepts of identity
and truth. By bringing together twenty-seven case studies of autobiographical texts from over
four centuries and from a variety of cultural (mainly Anglophone) backgrounds this book
demonstrates how fruitful a critical focus on the interaction between autobiography and fiction
proves for understanding the complex strategies by which subject positions are established and
communicated. The texts examined include: De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater
Thomas Hardy's A Pair of Blue Eyes Anaïs Nin's diaries General Sherman's Memoirs Abdelkébir
Khatibi's L'Amour bilingue Nirad Chaudhuri's Autobiography of an Unknown Indian Helene
Deutsch's Confrontations with Myself Sky Lee's Disappearing Moon Cafe Mary McCarthy's
Memories of a Catholic Girlhood Graham Swift's The Light of Day Ian McEwan's Atonement A.S.
Byatt's The Biographer's Tale Richard Wright's Black Boy and Zora Neale Hurston's Dust Tracks
on a Road.
