Misery Lit - A Recent Fad or a Genre with Long-standing Traditions?

Abstract

_{https://doi.org/10.26485/ZRL/2018/61.3/1}

_{Misery literature is frequently perceived as a new genre, which emerged in the United States in the 1990s. It is usually defined as autobiographical non-fiction dealing with a traumatic childhood and life’s adversities yet many of most famous misery memoirs have been discredited as fakes. Nevertheless, many traits of the genre features have long existed in the history of literature. This article seeks to analyse the roots of misery memoirs, present their characteristic plot structure, explain their commercial popularity and warn of the dangers they might entail.}