Slovenska Literatura (Dec 2011)
On the selected aspects of Ján Franciscis autobiography.
Abstract
The aim of study is to analyse essential poetological aspect of Ján Francisci’s autobiography. Already published source materials and narratological and historiografical secondary literature were used in the process of composing the study. It is mainly focused on problem of vague genre status of the text in which structure autobiographical and historiographical narrative strategies are alternating. The most substantial issue is the transformation process of historiographical techniques into the text with autographical frameworks and the technique of modification of histiriographical perspective into subjective (autobiographical) form in this type of texts. Interpretations which explain subject matter and topic of this text result from the problem mentioned above. The second substantial problem is subjects capturing and its role in the text since it is one of the crucial categories with respect to genre. According to analyses mentioned in the study the subject captured in Vlastný životopis (My Autobiography) appears peripheral, depsychologized, without adequate individual attributes and thus as a subject without a concept of autonomous identity. Peripheral status of subject in Francisci’s Autobiography is closely related to predominant historical and social context which represents main story line of thinking. Considering this fact we would like to imply the question whether the structure of the text is not closer to memoirs than to autobiography. Besides these the study touches upon a category of narrator, his competency and position in relation to the reader.
