Autofiction concept: demarcations of the concept from contemporary Brazilian literature

Abstract

The concept of autofiction has been marked by uncertainties, confusions and contradictions that eventually ended up crystallizing an argument that supports the impossibility to define it more clearly. One effect of this conceptual confusion has been a mixture of vulgarization and inappropriate use of the term that has come to characterize all works belonging to the field of “selfwriting”. In this paper, I try to demarcate more precisely the boundaries that define the autoficcional work, presenting the features that I consider necessary for its best conceptual framework. The argument is developed in dialogue with the most relevant theoretical texts and based on examples of contemporary Brazilian literature.