Amos Goldberg
Introduction: If This Is a Man

The fundamental principle in life-story and autobiography studies is that only through language can people give meaning to the events of their lives and constitute their identities, that is, by weaving those events into a narrative. In other words, there is a close affinity between the autobiographical text - as language, narrative, and narration - and the constitution and existence of a subject with a distinct identity. Whether people experience their lives as narrative or merely afford their lives meaning through narrative, they can only experience them through the act of narration, which entails the varying levels of cohesion and coherence that the story imposes on the plot, as well as the processes of thematization present in various aspects of the story, without which human experience cannot, in fact, be discussed.