Autobiographical prose about childhood: between memoir and fiction

Abstract

This article examines the genre nature of autobiographical prose about childhood, considered at the intersection of documentary (memoir) and fictional elements. Drawing on works by S. T. Aksakov, L. N. Tolstoy, M. Gorky, and V. V. Nabokov, it analyzes the theoretical foundations of genre duality, including Philippe Lejeune’s concept of the “autobiographical pact” and Serge Doubrovsky’s notion of “autofiction,” as well as the psychological nature of autobiographical memory as a reconstructive rather than reproductive mechanism. The article identifies the main artistic strategies used to transform biographical material: thematic (non-chronological) composition, stylization of the child’s perspective while retaining a mature narrative voice, typification of individual experience, and the use of composite characters and reconstructed dialogues. It also defines the functions of genre duality—therapeutic, cultural-historical, aesthetic, and reflective—and proposes practical criteria for distinguishing memoir-dominant and fiction-dominant elements in a text.