There is a very big problem when libraries, publishers, or academics classify autobiography as nonfiction.

The fact of the matter is, no autobiography is completely nonfiction. As Janina Bauman wrote in her article Memory and Imagination: Truth in Autobiography, “No autobiography can be written without such a touch of fiction” (33). Psychologically speaking, no human being remembers his/her whole life as a gapless movie-like memory. We have memories that capture certain events, bits and pieces of our lives. Bauman explains her statement by arguing that we must fill the gaps between our fragmented memories with imagination, and that is why there is always an aspect of fiction in autobiography.

Valentino Achak Deng explains his action of classifying his autobiography What is the What as a novel in a different way. Deng makes a disclaimer in the preface, saying, “I was very young when some of the events in the book took place, and as a result, we simply had to pronounce What is the What a novel.” His consideration for accuracy issues due to time corroding memories is very refreshing. Deng also alludes to authority, another “authenticity” issue that we talked about during class today. He says, “I told Dave what I knew and what I could remember, and from that material he created this work of art.” This raises the question of, “Who’s really telling this story?”

This is revolutionary for genres and the classification of literature, dramatic to say the least. Under many online library sites, especially for children’s books, autobiographies and biographies fall straight under the larger heading of nonfiction.

So what? Is this a problem? I don’t think so. Yes, it is important to note that autobiographies are not nonfiction, but that fictional aspect is also what makes autobiographies what they are. Schaffer and Smith, in their article Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights, emphasize the great impact of personal storytelling. Storytelling requires the imagination that fills gaps in a series of fragmented memories. Why is this important? Well, the purpose of many autobiographies, including Deng’s What is the What  and Satrapi’s Persepolis is to direct global attention to issues and struggles happening in countries like Sudan and Iran, respectively. If authors’ purposes are to create and raise awareness for these issues, then it would be in their best interest for the autobiographies to be engaging and “nice” to read. Without the aspect of imagination, authors’ stories would be a choppy, turbulent stream of incomplete memories, and it would be a hardship for readers to digest and enjoy. Imagination, the fictional aspect of memories, makes autobiographies easier to consume, and therefore, more effective in raising awareness and sparking action for events of trauma and suffering around the world.

So the problem is not that autobiographies are in large part fictional, but it is that autobiographies are classified as nonfiction. We must redefine these categories of fiction and nonfiction and what they encompass.