Il nome proprio: appunti su un’ontologia dell’autofinzione

With his six volume autobiography Min kamp (My Struggle), Karl Ove Knausgård has asserted his stance of putting absolute authenticity against fiction. In the final book, in the chapter Navnet og tallet (ʺThe name and the numberʺ), he strays from the autobiographical narration and opens a narrative space for diverse reflections. There he insists on the power of the name, which brings truthfulness and strongly connects the bearer to their identity. In the following article, I meant to further develop Knausgård’s conclusions and question his train of thought in relation to autobiography as the power of identification raised by the proper name fails to establish a connection between the narrating “I” and a “you”/“other” entity. Following these speculations, Knausgård’s autobiography appears not to create a multifaceted/plural perspective and stands as an individual/singular account. Finally, Knausgård’s Min kamp fails to grasp to an outright authenticity and emerges as just another piece of fiction.