Autofiction as (self-)criticism:
some suggestions from
contemporary Brazilian literature
Sonia Miceli
“Autobiographie? Non, c’est un privilège réservé
aux importants de ce monde, au soir de leur vie,
et dans un beau style. Fiction d’événements et de
faits strictement réels; si l’on veut, autofiction,
d’avoir confié le langage d’une aventure à
l’aventure du langage”.
Serge Doubrovsky, Fils, 1977
“J’ai voulu très profondément remplir cette
case que votre analyse laissait vide, et c’est un
véritable désir qui a soudain lié votre texte
critique et ce que j’étais en train d’écrire”.
Letter of October 17, 1977. Quoted by
Lejeune in Moi aussi, Seuil, 1986, p. 63.
“Descarnado, o tempo inteiro eu
esperava alguém se aproximar e
me dar uma explicação. Um
corpo sem pele não consegue
achar
nenhuma
resposta”.
“In flesh, I was waiting the
whole time for someone to come
closer and give me and
explanation. A skinless body
cannot find any answer”.
Divórcio, p. 119
“Is this what you want? he asked, and I said
yes, so he took off his skin for me.
He was beautiful, shining red organs and
crisp bones. I stepped forward to embrace
him. I felt his naked wet muscles against my
arms”.
M. Hummer, “He took off his skin for me”
“People commented on
his different appearance
but they couldn’t quite
put a finger on it. Have
you lost weight? they’d
ask, scratching their
chin. In a way, he’d say.
Smiling a red smile at
me. Such a short
sentence was unlike him.
He loved words, loved using
different ones to say the same
thing again and again until he
was sure he was fully
understood. But he either had
less to say now, or he felt that
he was already saying it”.