The Revolt of a Genre

After reading What is Autobiography? I sighed deeply, half with satisfaction to the understanding of one genre, and half with anger to a bunch of options and factors that determine whether it is autobiography or not. In Visual Narratives, Schirato and Web tell us that the role of genre is “interaction” between the medium and readers to make sense of it and enjoy it (Schirato and Web 92). However, the notion contains so many features in its definition as varieties of the people that individual readers may not agree with each other when they read the same pieces, just like I do.

While I was reading the article, I couldn’t erase a masterpiece from one of my favorite lists, that is Robinson Crusoe. I can’t remember exactly who it was, but I remember one critic pointed out Robinson Crusoe’s autobiographical features. He (or she--not sure) explained its beneficial effect to make readers grab the book and cry. I agree that it effectively helped us believe. The reason is simple. It sounds so real, though originally Defoe heard it from a prisoner when he was jailed. Even if the motive of the story was not from the prisoner or not 100% real, it to a certain degree reflects story teller’s judgment to his or someone’s life. From this point of view, to me Robinson Crusoe appealed its reality and true personality so strongly that I thought it was autobiographical rather than fictional.

Of course, it doesn’t fit well with all the factors mentioned in "What is Autobiography"? But it describes external life as much, makes readers think about deliverance, and moreover, possesses outstanding viewpoint related to the problem of religious conversion. It may not be an autobiographical novel, but to me it is more than autobiographical. (I don’t know why I adhere to this novel so much. Because I love travel so much and read Robinson Crusoe recently?) Even if someone argues that Robinson Crusoe is not autobiographical at last, in multiple choices, someone’s mind may think Robinson is the prototypical of autobiography.