Memoir vs. Autobiography
Difference between Memoir and Autobiography: – The terms memoir and autobiography are often exchanged as if their meanings are not different, yet what a lot of people ignore is that they actually have different meanings, and to exchange them in certain contexts is a mistake. Although both sound similar and refer to books or writings about what a particular person have lived, there is an important detail that must be taken into consideration.
Difference between Memoir and Autobiography
If you have doubts about what is the difference between memoir and autobiography or just looking for a little more information to complement what you already know, then continue reading, because below we explain everything you need to know around to this interesting topic.
Autobiography
An autobiography is a recount written by a person about his own life. It completely covers its trajectory, from its infancy until the moment in which it is writing.
There are no restrictions on the tone of an autobiography; some are comic in nature; in these the author tries to present the facts as if they were a collection of funny occurrences. However, others may have a more sober tone, tell everything by way of anecdote and you can even find some with depressive tone.
What all biographies have in common, regardless of tone and other details, is that they follow a chronological pattern.
Memoir
On the other hand, a memoir is similar to an autobiography in the sense that it is writing about the life of a person written by the person in question; but unlike autobiography, memoir only speaks about a particular period of time in the life of the author.
Whoever writes a memoir decides to focus solely on one or more events in his or her life that he considers relevant. It is a type of writing that does not necessarily follow a chronological pattern, although it is common for authors to make temporal references.
Finally, other differences that must be pointed out are the following: autobiographies are usually stricter and more formal than the memoirs; the vast majority includes forms of confirmation of facts, as well as dates and very specific information. Memories are less formal, rely less on accuracy of data and information and more on how the story is told.
