AUTOBIOGRAPHY: CHARACTERISTICS, PARTS AND EXAMPLES - LITERATURE - 2025

The autobiography is a narration made by an individual about what happened during his life or a fragment of it. If it is general (full life), it covers aspects related to childhood, family history, triumphs, failures, loves, heartbreaks, journeys and everything that revolved around its existence.

Autobiography is considered in itself a literary genre. It is circumscribed between the limits of history and literature, since the protagonist - who in this case is the same writer - cannot escape during the narrative of the different social, political and cultural events that marked her life.

There are a considerable number of literary genres related to autobiography. Due to its characteristics, it is linked to the chronicle, the biography, the memoirs and the novel, among others. However, despite coinciding in certain things with the aforementioned genres, the autobiography has marked aspects that make it unique.

It has been a genre commonly used by figures with a certain degree of social recognition, characters who have decided to leave their followers, admirers and the general public the circumstances that shaped their paths. Has a high degree of introspection and exposure of intimate aspects of the writer.

Due to the high intimate content of perhaps embarrassing and delicate events, many writers have decided not to approach this literary genre; They do it so as not to expose themselves or their own. The famous phrase "reality surpasses fiction", takes the rise in autobiography.

Autobiographical publications have a wide market of followers, readers eager to know the ins and outs of the lives of their idols. To a large extent, this type of story is sought because it lends itself to learning, to take advice from the reflections exposed in order to lead a better life.

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Etymology and origins

The word autobiography is a word composed of three terms from the Greek:

- Aútos (in Spanish, “auto”): prefix that means “by itself”, “on its own”.

- Bio (in Spanish, “bío”): prefix that means “life”.

- Graphia (in Spanish, “spelling”): root that means “writing”.

Starting from these precepts, we have that the word autobiography can be understood as the writing of life by one's own hand.

An interesting fact is that the first time the term was used it was done in the Anglo-Saxon language, by Robert Southey in the Quaterly Review newspaper at the beginning of the 19th century; therefore, it is in principle an English cultism. Then the semantic transfer to Spanish occurred and the morphology of the word was adapted to Castilian grammar.

Precedents

It should be noted that, although the term "autobiography" is coined in the early 1800s, works with the characteristics of this literary genre had been published much earlier. Within the autobiographies prior to the formal coinage of the term, the following can be mentioned:

- Confessions, a work written by Saint Augustine, was published in the 5th century AD. C. in Latin, and was translated and published into Spanish in 1654 by Pedro de Ribadeneira.

- Poetry and Truth (1833) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which was published a year after his death.

The two previous works have marked autobiographical features and are taken as mandatory references when studying this literary genre.

Objectivity hand in hand with subjectivity

Something interesting that happens in the autobiography is the ambiguity that arises in its creation regarding the perspectives and positions that must be taken at the time of writing.

The author, who is the protagonist, must try to have an objective position around the events he narrates, trying to be as realistic as possible. At the same time, when recounting what he experienced as a person, the necessary subjective air that gives life to this genre is witnessed.

In the coexistence of these two opposite attitudes, of these two visions, the biography arises.

Pact between writer and reader

This particularity of the autobiography is one of the most binding. When deciding to write his work, the writer assumes before his readers that he will be realistic and true when manifesting himself, that he will not lie. For his part, the reader assumes that the writer is as sincere as possible and believes everything he raises.

It must be borne in mind that this pact is not one hundred percent reliable; It will never be known exactly if the author's statement is totally true. However, the commitment is there, its presence is palpable giving greater intensity to the reading made by the lyrical receiver.

Marked influence of the production context

The production context plays a crucial role in the making of the autobiography. This is closely related to the author's objectivity and his ability to convey the social, political, economic, family and historical circumstances that conditioned his life.

The receptivity of the work by the readers will depend to a large extent on the correct description and sequence of the events through the appropriate use of the discursive marks in the conformation of the micro and macrostructures.

Structure

This particular aspect varies by author: there is no formal organization as to the order of appearance of the elements of the narrative in the autobiography.

The structure is closely linked to the wit of the writer and his skills in handling the letters. In general terms, there are two types of structuring in the autobiography:

Linear

It is shown from infancy, development and adulthood (this in case of being a complete autobiography) to the current age of the author. This is done by presenting all aspects of the production context.

Cyclical

It has no specific starting point: it can begin in adulthood and continue into adolescence, and so on. As in any work of this complexity, the success of the elaboration will depend on the skills of the writer. Similarly, the production context is present and plays a crucial role in the plot.

Technique

This characteristic is subject to the author's preparation around the writing. Keep in mind that the realization of an autobiography is available to everyone, but not everyone knows how to write.

In addition to the above, the technique alludes to the freedoms that the writer has when addressing this literary genre.

You can make use of exaggeration, poeticization and everything that is typical of the personality of the writer that, therefore, is part of his discursive marks and his literary identity.

Historic fountain of great value

By demanding from its authors a degree of objectivity regarding the events and circumstances that surrounded their lives during the time they lived, the autobiography is seen as a valid source of historical knowledge.

A clear example is shown by the autobiographies of Nelson Mandela (The Long Road to Freedom, 1994) and Saint Augustine (Confessions - 5th century AD), who in their respective years showed the historical realities of the societies of which they formed part.

Although this type of writing can be considered naive, because its authors do not have the degrees of historians, they do not lose their weight or their contribution.

Extension

As in much of today's literary works, there is no limit to the breadth of autobiographies.

The writer can place the number of chapters he likes and make them as long as he wants. Of course, the communicative scope of the work will always depend on whether the literary resources are also handled at the time of writing.

Parts of the autobiography

Below are the elements that make up the autobiography. It should be borne in mind that, ignoring the essentials of the introduction and personal data, the order of development is subject to the imagination of the protagonist.

Each of the elements shown below will be subject to the personality of the author and the production context experienced.

Introduction

In this part the author exposes the circumstances that led him to develop the autobiography. For obvious reasons, here an explicit manifestation of the protagonist's subjectivity is allowed.

This part gives room to capture events that allow us to glimpse aspects of the author's privacy, creating the previous atmosphere of the story.

Personal information

It is given as a prior contextualization for readers and to strengthen the introduction. This part is presented for the author to reveal the necessary data that will give specific information about his life.

Among the basic personal data we have: full name, places where he has lived, jobs he has performed, names of direct relatives, passions, hobbies, trades, among others.

Development

Of the narrative elements typical of the literary genre of autobiography, development represents the most subjective in terms of how it is manifested. The writing of this part will vary according to the level of preparation and the lyrical motives presented by the author.

As seen above, it can be treated in a linear or cyclical way depending on the interests of the protagonist. The order of priorities in which the events are shown will be determined by what the author considers to be reasons of importance in the writing.

The production context plays a crucial role in this part since it conditions the protagonist's walk and sets the background that will give rise to the events, which is known as action-reaction.

As is common in many of the related literary genres, a beginning-middle and end are shown.

conclusion

After the denouement or end of events - although it may happen that the protagonist is still in the denouement of some of the life history subplots - personal learning about what has been lived is manifested.

In this part, readers appreciate the subjectivity of the protagonist when assuming the consequences of their actions. An internalization usually occurs on the part of the lyrical receiver and reactions regarding how they would have acted if they had been.

The conclusions usually manifest as a monologue, an introspective dialogue by the author.

recommendations

Here the words of the author are manifested towards the lyrical receiver. It has the advice that the writer considers to be prudent to issue regarding what he experienced.

This part has a direct communicative character, there is an inclusion of the reader, a direct message to the receiver.

Annexes

This part corresponds to the photographic and / or documentary record that can support everything narrated by the protagonist. It has a certain degree of relevance and importance because it makes the reader's experience more vivid; it is recommended that any autobiography contain them.

Examples of autobiographies of historical figures

Below are four pieces of character autobiographies that marked a milestone in human history:

Charles Chaplin

Chaplin. Autobiography (1964)

“I wish I had stayed longer in New York, but I had to work in California. First of all, I wanted to end my contract with First National as soon as possible, because I was eager to start with United Artists.

The return to California was a bit depressing after the freedom, the brilliance and the fascinatingly intense life she had led in New York. The problem of finishing four two-reel films for First National presented itself to me as an insurmountable task.

For several days I sat in the study, exercising the habit of thinking. Like playing the violin or the piano, thinking needs to be practiced every day, and I had lost the habit ”.

Margaret Thatcher

The Dawning Street Years (1993)

“Even before the tellers announced the figures, those of us in the opposition seats knew that the Labor government of Jim Callaghan had lost its vote of confidence and would have to call a general election.

When the four tellers return to read the total of the votes collected in the antechambers, the deputies can see which party has won according to the position they take on the Speaker of Parliament.

On this occasion, the two conservatives headed to the president's left in the space that used to be occupied by the government whips (whips, or members in charge of observing the party's slogans).

There was a great burst of applause and laughter from the Conservative seats, and our supporters in the spectator galleries shouted their unprotocolary jubilation. "

Stephen Hawking

Brief history of my life (2013)

“My first memory is standing in the nursery at Byron House School in Highgate crying like crazy. Around the children they were playing with some toys that looked wonderful, and I wanted to join them, but I was only two and a half years old, it was the first time that they left me with people that I did not know and I was scared.

I think my parents were surprised by my reaction, as it was their first child and they had read in child development manuals that children should be ready to start socializing at two years of age. However, they took me from there after that horrible morning and did not send me back to Byron House for the next year and a half.

In those days, during the war and just after it ended, Highgate was an area where various scientists and academics lived (in another country they would have been called intellectuals, but the English have never admitted having them). All those parents sent their children to the Byron House School, a very progressive school for the time.

Nelson Mandela

The long road to freedom (1994)

“Africans desperately needed legal help. It was a crime to walk through a white-only door, ride a white-only bus, drink from a white-only fountain, or walk down a white-only street.

It was also a crime not to have a pass book, as well as the wrong signature on the book in question; It was a crime to be unemployed and also to work in the wrong place; it was a crime to live in certain places and it was a crime not to have a place to live ”.

Importance

Autobiographies represent a vision of history and the various social, political and cultural events that affect a society from the eyes of the protagonists themselves.

This literary genre makes it easier for the common denominator of the world population, without distinction, to make their evaluative judgments about the impact that the world has and its circumstances in their life, at the same time that they show how they did to cope with events and stay on track.

The autobiography is an individual literary legacy with collective connotations that contributes to different cultures a compendium of experiential teachings. These qualities, when harnessed correctly, can generate far-reaching changes and save significant problems.

References

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4. Cáceres Ramírez, O. (2018). The autobiography. (n / a): About Español. Recovered from: aboutespanol.com
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