Dialogic Reading Spaces in Autofiction: Rachel Cusk’s Kudos

ABSTRACT This article explores the conversational aspect of Cusk’s autofiction and discusses its relevance for describing the relationship between an autofictional text, its author and its reader. In Kudos, this conversational aspect is actualised as dialogic reading space (coaxing space), in which the reader is invited to, and permitted to, take part in the polyphonic construction of the narrative based on the author’s personal truths. The reader’s perspective is thus introduced into a nuanced approach to the themes in the text, but also towards the writing process itself, including its commercial and human entanglements. The dialogic reading space allows the author to disentangle herself from any autobiographical pressures while enabling the reader to recognise the open indeterminacy of autofiction as a wellspring of ideas rather than a genre issue.