Abstract
ABSTRACT By nature, autofiction texts often present a strong connection between the story and the external context in which it has been created. This relationship is often represented through the paratext. This paper analyses the importance of paratextual elements in autofiction, using the Italian text La festa dei limoni (FL) by Marco Braico (2011a, La festa dei limoni. Torino: Effatà Editrice., 2015a, La festa dei limoni. Milano: Edizioni Piemme.) as a case study. The narration of the text follows Braico’s alter ego, Gabriele, along his journey fighting leukaemia. This theme of illness and recovery lies at the centre of a real-life project attached to the book, which involves using the profits from the sale of Braico’s books to donate equipment to cancer wards in Italian hospitals. FL’s autofictional nature has contributed to significant changes of the book’s peritext (the book cover and the preface), between its two editions. This article explores the dynamic interaction between the text’s genre and paratext. Combining theoretical insights with a discussion of the real-life fundraising campaign at the root of this book provides a glimpse of the importance and complexities of paratextual inquiry within the emerging genre of autofiction.
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