Abstract:
Autobiographical writing is the narration of one’s own life. This simple act which
entails the retrospective narrative in prose has become one of the most contested
issues in written discourses. Using Jane Katjavivi’s memoir Undisciplined Heart, this
paper explores dying and death and the ways culture impacts care for the dying, the
overall experience of dying and how the dead are remembered. In the memoir, life
writing is often entwined with stories of death and bereavement. As such, the paper
argues that thanatographical and autothanatographical narration are approaches
used for therapy purposes. It also posits that life writing is not about resurrecting the
dead through language or burying them in a mass of words; rather, it seeks to
interpret the myriad of interrelations and interactions that exist between death and
culture. Thus, culture operates as a vehicle and medium through which the meaning
of death is communicated and understood. This paper concludes that thanatographical
narration in Undisciplined Heart, allows Katjavivi to contemplate the loss of
her friends, chronicles her struggle with grief and also, supposedly provides conso
lation for her loss.
