2026.1.6

SVĚT LITERATURY 2026 (XXXVI) SI

A Certain Distance Questions of Identity and (Auto)biography
in the Work of Janet Malcolm

Václav Kyllar

 

 FULL TEXT   

 ABSTRACT (en)

This article analyses the major works of Janet Malcolm, with a focus on how her migrant origins from Czechoslovakia shaped her narrative voice and approach to writing. Situating her within the contexts of both the New York literary scene and Czech anglophone literature, it explores recurring themes of identity, truth, ethics, and the limitations of non-fiction storytelling. It also reflects on the challenges of autobiography and the hybrid nature of Malcolm’s work, and considers her place within Czech anglophone literature.

 KEYWORDS (en)

Janet Malcolm — Czech anglophone literature — life-writing — biography — autobiography — photography — long-form journalism — migration — memory

 DOI

https://doi.org/10.14712/23366729.2026.1.6

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Goodman, Brian K. The Nonconformists: American and Czech Writers across the Iron Curtain. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2023.

Lee, Hermione. Biography: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. E-book.

Lori Bookstein Fine Art, 5 in Collage. New York: Studley Press, 2002.

Malcolm, Janet. Diana & Nikon: Essays on the Aesthetic of Photography. Boston: D. R. Godine, 1980.

Malcolm, Janet. The Purloined Clinic: Selected Writings by Janet Malcolm. New York: Vintage, 1992. E-book.

Malcolm, Janet. In the Freud Archives. London: Granta, 1997.

Malcolm, Janet. The Journalist and the Murderer. London: Granta, 1997.

Malcolm, Janet. Forty-one False Starts: Essays on Artists and Writers. London: Granta, 2013

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