The Case for Autofiction and Hybrid Work

I’m not going to say that the novel is dead. I am going to say that our idea of what makes an excellent novel may need to evolve.

What is a “novel” really? My understanding is that it is traditionally a work of fiction. Increasingly, many (not just me, right?) seem to enjoy works that fall under the category of “autofiction” which goes by a number of different names.

The general sense of autofiction is that the main character / protagonist is a version of the author. This version of the author is not the author. This version is exaggerated, a tall tale, a persona who says and does what a real person cannot do in real life. In real life, we have a lot of restrictions…this almost goes without saying…we have to limit ourselves to some degree in order to conform to the norms of society. An exaggerated persona can have “powers” that are preterhuman. That is to say, they are able to do and know things and function in a manner that would probably not work out super well for the author themselves. None of this is new. Hunter S. Thompson eventually spoke openly about the challenges he faced, the internal schism, because of expectations that he was the gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson in real life. In real life, he was quite wild. There are plenty of accounts of just who wild and reckless he was. That being said, he must have reigned it in at least a little bit or he would not have lived into his six decade.  Thompson admitted there came a point where he struggled to separate himself and the persona of HST that people expected. I can imagine the struggle of waking up, knowing you have an interview, and the fraught process of trying to decide the version of yourself who is going to show up.

Nowadays, I’m more interested in autofiction than fiction. This has been the case for several years. This has been something that I have been reluctant to admit. Hard to say why exactly. I don’t read fiction as an escape. I never really did. Well, that’s not entirely true. I mostly never did. Part of this stems from having a reading disability as a child that carried into adulthood. Reading is a draining task for me. I enjoy it but I’ve had to work extremely hard from a young age to be a competent reader who can read for long periods of time. In short, reading takes a lot of effort. In many instances, reading is work for me. This is much less the case with poetry. This is likely among the many reasons why I moved towards poetry more and more over the years. I want to add that I do read quite a bit of nonfiction. Often, I read both nonfiction, fiction, autofiction and other longer texts via audiobook. I seem to be one of those people that can read just as competently in the audiobook format as looking visually at text on the page. I’m aware this is not the case for all.

Part of why I gravitate towards autofiction is the sense of realness. I enjoy a character moving through the world who I know has some grounding in reality. I feel like I’m getting to know a person (though I remain aware this is not a precise photocopy of the author themselves). If I am aware a story is entirely made up, pure fantasy, it’s less of a pull. My suspension of disbelief seems to have shifted over time.

I should note that there are many important reasons why novels have been written in the past. I’m reluctant to use the word “novel” even because it feels loaded. These texts that matter, have mattered, continue to matter—they are clearly the author’s way to work through and share ideas that would otherwise be challenging to explain in a conventional conversational manner. Let me elaborate.

Explaining poems is always problematic because at the end of the day the answer is that you simply need to read the poem. If the poem could be “explained” then this calls into question why the author chose the medium of poetry. This goes for other mediums as well. Humans are storytellers. If you choose to tell a story using characters there has to be a reason why this was the best way you could tell the story you felt an urgent need to share. Of course, some writing is for pure enjoyment. There are people who I call “born readers” who simply enjoy reading. They go through large tomes like it’s nothing. Notably, many of these same individuals, when asked about books they’ve read only a short while ago cannot remember too many details. This can feel bad for the person though I (and others) will assure them that it’s not a complete loss. The benefits of reading are well-documented and there is plenty of good science to back up the value. People read, assimilate the useful knowledge, and then tend to forget what their brain decides is non-essential.

There are all types of readers out there.

I keep trying to get back to why I have a predilection for autofiction and then keep going on tangents (as I am wont to do). I’m hesitant to name drop any particular authors. My sense is those who are writing good autofiction are following related guidelines that appear to be in the zeitgeist. I want to note that many of these texts are on the shorter side than your average novel. More like novellas. Many texts I have enjoyed are in the 175-250 page range. There are good autofiction texts that run longer, though I’m taken with what people can accomplish in these shorter forms. To make a comparison, many will tell you that the best tv shows only run two to three seasons. Always exceptions.

I want to mention that I believe hybrid texts have a lot of potential. This is not a new idea either. Texts that incorporate aspects of different forms (eg. poetry, fiction, nonfiction) are exciting for readers and, perhaps, can help authors break out of the conventions (eg. Freytag’s Pyramid, the hero’s journey) that shape a typical novel.

You know what might be dead? The so-called “Death of The Author” lit theory. It’s ok, I never really bought into it anyhow.

What are your thoughts? Do you think literature can benefit from breaking away from the traditional novel format? Do you have a sense of where this is all going—a paradigm shift? Feel free to disagree, of course. Please share your thoughts and options and texts that you love (that feel related to this discussion) in the comments.