Autobiographical narration can undercut rather than claim authority over a history.

Evidence

Autobiography is usually thought of as seizing the authority of authenticity. But in order not to be authoritative, I’ve got to speak autobiographically. I’m going to tell you about my own take on certain theoretical legacies and moments in Cultural Studies, not because it is the truth or the only way of telling the history. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 235

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the narrative method of The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, where first-person recounting destabilizes authenticity rather than asserting it.