ABSTRACT
Icelandic literary scholar Halldor Guomundsson, who has written a biography of Halldor Kiljan Laxness, considers what it must be like to find oneself featuring in Laxness’ memoirs or fiction, in which events and characters are remade- which is certainly the case with the life of Magnus Hj. Auto-fiction is part of a new manifestation of self which is both disconnected and enigmatic. While the form is well-established, practiced by Icelandic writers for much of the 20th century, auto-fiction has gained a new significance globally, in the hands of a much larger group of people who express themselves about their lives. In auto-fiction the authors see anatomisation of the self in a text that is built upon an interpretation of memory on a subjective level. Writers allow themselves the freedom to blend together fact and fiction while speaking of their own lives.
