Writing the Self, Rewriting the Novel: Graham Greene and the Autofiction Turn

This essay examines Graham Greene's The End of the Affair as a pivotal work of autofiction that redefines the boundary between fiction and autobiography. By analysing the novel's narrative voice, temporal structure, and revision history, the essay argues that the novel not only thematizes the act of writing and remembering but also reclaims the novel's capacity to mediate between the private and the collective. In doing so, Greene repositions the novel as a site of collective reconstruction and artistic renewal—reviving the communal spirit of premodern storytelling within a contemporary framework. The End of the Affair thus offers a new model of realism, bridging the introspective tradition of the modern novel with the public-embracing logic in the advent of mass media.