THE contemporary “documentary novel” and the difficulties facing the non-fictional narrative

The article explores three contemporary Bulgarian novels in order to underline the characteristics that allow us to use the genre definition “documentary novel”. Based on Philippe Lejeune’s 1975 definitions of “autobiography” and “novel”, the article analyses the identity of the three narrative persons in the novels in order to define the distance they have with the two genres. Later, other bordering genres are discussed in order to establish the space that the documentary novel occupies. Certain literary approaches used in the novels are discussed, serving to present the narrative’s fictional side. The article concludes that the documentary novel as such has its place in literature, maintaining at the same time strong bonds with extra-literary genres.