Between autobiography and autofiction: Małgorzata Halber’s novel titled Najgorszy człowiek na świecie

Abstract

The author of the article investigates whether Małgorzata Halber’s Najgorszy człowiek na świecie [The Worst Man in the World] can be classified as an autobiography. In her considerations, she draws on classic scholarly studies by Małgorzata Czermińska, Philippe Lejeune and Paul de Mann. This analysis allows the author of the paper to conclude that the autobiographical elements present in Halber’s novel significantly affect the formation of the text’s narrative and the reader’s reception of the work. At the same time it appears that they make it difficult to genologically assign the novel since it combines features of both autobiography and literary fiction. The article also undertakes to find an answer to the question why Halber, a woman who has made a coming out with illness and admits to her addiction and treatment, decides to hide behind a fictional character. Her chosen strategy of concealment seems to have several functions: focusing attention on the problem of alcoholism rather than the person of the author, universalising the alcohol experience, and minimising her own shame.