Narrating the Self and Constructing History: A Biography Appreciation Theory Analysis of Gandhi, Chaplin, and Hitler

Abstract

This article examines the auto/biographies of Mahatma Gandhi (The Story of My Experiments with Truth), Charlie Chaplin (My Autobiography), and Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf) through the critical lens of Biography Appreciation Theory. It explores how these texts function not merely as historical documents but as complex acts of self-fashioning, ideological persuasion, and cultural performance. By interrogating narrative voice, confessional strategies, and ideological aims, the paper demonstrates that life-writing is an inherently mediated, performative, and politically charged genre. The study also investigates the ethics of life-writing and the role of the reader in negotiating authenticity and propaganda. Through close textual analysis and theoretical framing, this article argues that auto/biography shapes public memory while simultaneously revealing the fractured, contested nature of subjectivity, authority, and historical truth.