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traditionally drawn their materials from fund of metaphors which grow out of our shared experiences, assumptions and beliefs-the American The main difference between American autobiographers and writers of fiction is that autobiographers have employed these metaphors in self-scrutiny and self-portrayal rather than in presentation of fictional characters, but resulting creation lends itself to cultural analysis as readily as purely fictional characters do. The created character in both cases represents values that are recognized by reading audience at large. A consideration of several American autobiographers as cultural types may provide some new ways of viewing this special genre in our literature and suggest that in general is, in Georg Misch's words, only a special kind of literature but also an instrument of knowledge. I By regarding creation of autobiographical character in America as a cultural act, we may suggest some of ways in which Americans shape their views of themselves by attending closely to dominant patterns of our culture. In addition, by noting similarities between fictional and autobiographical processes, we may offer an explanation of striking coalition which these two genres have formed in our own time. Before going on to examine specific cases, we should understand what we mean by autobiography and by the American myth. We must recognize, first of all, that term autobiography implies only that author is writing specifically about himself; it has nothing to do with factual truth. Autobiography does not communicate raw experience, for
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