Autofiktion und der Strukturwandel des Privaten

In international literature of the last decade, few genres have been as widely read or as intensely discussed as autofiction. Writers of autofiction use a variety of literary means to do what the novel has always done: to illuminate the private sphere. Yet, as this article argues, the idea of the private sphere underlying autofiction structurally differs from that of the fictional novel. Starting from a reading of Sheila Heti's 2018 novel Motherhood and an analysis of its reception in various YouTube formats, this article shows that the private sphere to which autofiction grants access is no longer framed as a refuge for the individual from the public. Instead, autofiction stages and reflects a model of privacy in which intense self-observation directly serves the creation of new social ties. Autofiction aesthetically reflects on interpersonal networking. Moreover, in dramatizing the crossing of boundaries between the fictional and non-fictional, and in breaking >> the fourth wall,<< it aesthetically recreates the forging of new network connections. The continued success of contemporary autofiction therefore needs to be understood against the backdrop of the structural transformation of the private sphere within the network society.

Automated summary

In the last decade, autofiction has become one of the most widely read and intensely discussed genres in international literature. Writers of autofiction use various literary means to illuminate the private sphere, but in a different way from traditional fictional novels. They present a model of privacy where intense self-observation is directly used to create new social ties. Autofiction reflects on interpersonal networking aesthetically and recreates the forging of new network connections by breaking the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. The continued success of contemporary autofiction needs to be understood in the context of the structural transformation of the private sphere within the network society.