Autofiction and Shishōsetsu: Women Writers and Reinventing the Self

Abstract This chapter explores the shared characteristics, both in terms of thematic concerns and narrative structures strategies, autofiction distinct Japanese form I-novel, shishōsetsu . Focusing on works three contemporary writers, Kanai Mieko, Sagisawa Megumu, Mizumura Minae, it examines strategies applied by female authors to redefine self. The focuses traits autofiction: ambiguity first-person narratives such as semantics “I” within text; interdependence author, narrator, protagonist; practices fictionalizing self; question authorship. Exploring an autofictional also expands scope existing theoretical discussions autofictional, which rarely take literature into consideration.