Complete Truth and Fuzzy Genres: Reading Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle
George H. Jensen | University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Publication: Volume 5 Issue 4
Abstract | Traditionally, nonfiction is defined as a genre that tells stories which actually happened; it is a product of memory. In contrast, fiction is, in part or whole, a fabrication, a product of imagination. We seem to accept these distinctions even though, as sophisticated readers, we know the simple dichotomy often dissolves, and we are often skeptical about explicit contracts with the reader. In this essay, I will explore the importance of the truth claims made in nonfiction. While we acknowledge narrative truth and metaphorical truth, there is still something important about ‘getting the facts right.’ Instead of defining nonfiction as the genre that deals with what is true, we could say that nonfiction is the genre that deals with the difficulty of sorting out what we know from what we don’t know and from what we thought we knew. If works of nonfiction often point to the difficulty of establishing the truth, then maybe this murkiness of truth should be considered part of the genre, maybe even foundational to it.
If we accept the possibility of a ‘nonfictive novel,’ might we also accept the possibility of a ‘fictive memoir’? Such is my reading of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle, which, if it is a nonfictive novel, might push us to the realization that nonfiction is not a genre at all. Rather, it is an approach to genres. Nonfiction, if fully considered, might encompass more genres than journalism, biography, autobiography, memoir, and the personal essay. It might also be applied to some novels, especially to those referred to as autofiction.
Knausgaard pushes us to a further realization about the writing self: the difficulty of establishing truth reflects back on an author’s own participation in a text. What is the relationship between authorship and authenticity? Is the author’s relationship responsive, responsible? To use a Bakhtinian term, is the author answerable? Within the forms and flow of writing, Knausgaard sought access to the truth not just of the world, but of the self and the other. As I shall argue, we need to “know the self,” but we can only come to self-knowledge among others. Indeed, it is only by our active engagement within a community that we can fashion an authentic self.
Key words | Autofiction, Fictive Memoir, Nonfiction, Nonfictive Novel, Genre, Narrative Truth, Authenticity, Writing, Bakhtin, Knausgaard
George H. Jensen (ghjensen@ualr.edu) is retired from the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA, where he served as Professor and Department Chair. A pioneer in the development of personality theories of writing, he has written extensively on the application of Jungian personality types to the teaching of composition. A published memoirist, his most recent publications explore the genres and ethics of nonfiction.
MLA Citation for this Article:
Jensen, George H. “Complete Truth and Fuzzy Genres: Reading Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle.” Language, Literature, and Interdisciplinary Studies, vol. 5, no. 4, 2 Aug. 2023, pp. 2.1-2.19, http://ellids.com/archives/2023/08/5.4-Jensen.pdf