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Autofiction, Emotions, and Humour

A Playfully Serious Affective Mode

Alexandra Effe editor Arnaud Schmitt editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:26th Dec '22

Should be back in stock very soon

Autofiction, Emotions, and Humour cover

Autofiction is often associated with humour, irony, and play. Moreover, authors of autofictional texts are frequently criticised for a lack of seriousness or for failing to straightforwardly and in their own voice engage with a given topic. Yet very few autofictional texts are exclusively, or even primarily, playful. Many employ humour and irony to address very serious subject matter. This volume explores how these seemingly opposed characteristics of autofictional texts in fact work together. The contributions in this volume show that autofictional texts often make use of humour and play in a productive and meaningful way, tackling issues such as human rights violations, historical and collective as well as personal trauma, and struggle with psychological or physical illness and abuse. On the basis of geographically wide-ranging case studies, including texts from South America, South Africa, the United States, and Europe, this book explores how, in which contexts, and to which effects autofictional texts reveal their authors’ complex and often painful psychological experiences and engage the emotions of their readers.
This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Life Writing.

ISBN: 9781032411064

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 420g

152 pages