On the Record: Time and The Self as Data in Contemporary Autofiction

Abstract

Contemporary autofiction is a genre that is inescapably concerned with the recording, and re-recording of the self. In Ben Lerners autofictional 10:04, for instance, time becomes centred. The protagonist of 10:04 engages with Christian Marclays 24-hour video installation The Clock, which records the passing of time as portrayed in film, and is inspired to use the data of his own life to contextualise himself within a fictional world of his own creation. In this way, autofiction and the digital landscape share the same impulses. Through apps and smart watches we monitor and measure the self sleep, health (mental and physical), productivity and re-productivity and this data then becomes used to contextualise the self within a broader narrative. Is the presentation of the data we collect through these methods inherently autofictional in nature? This article will closely consider the portrayal of time and the way in which time is recorded in autofictional texts such as 10:04. It will also take the form of creative practice, as I concern myself with the recording of my own experiences watching The Clock over several different sessions at ACMI, as well as other ways of recording my 'self' through apps and a smart watch. By examining how the 'self' is commodified as data within the genre of autofiction, and this article will argue that the desire to monitor oneself and to view life as data to be collected speaks to a broader anxiety about the way we see ourselves