Autobiografia e le figlie della nazione

The article sets out to illustrate the general contours of the process of genesis and development of the biographical and autobiographical genres in modern and contemporary Turkish literature. The analysis initially focuses on two foundational works with regard to the autobiographical literature of the early republican period: Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk)’s Nutuk, and the two volumes of Halide Edib (Adıvar)’s autobiography, Memoirs of Halide Edib and The Turkish Ordeal. The article then proceeds to analyse the novel Ölmeye yatmak (Lying down to die) by Adalet Ağaoğlu, as a unique example of autobiographically built narration. The article will thus seek to underline how, from a historical and literary perspective, the foundational traits and the main problematic aspects underlying the emergence of masculine and feminine practices of writing about the self in the Turkish context.