Between autobiography and fiction, the term "autofiction", invented by Serge Doubrovsky, is a "genre" which essentially developed at the end of the 19th century with the transposition into fiction of the fragments of an experience (cf. Hubier), and which has become more and more popular. This thesis focuses on the contemporary form of this mixture of autobiography and fiction which can be found in Paul Auster's novels. The corpus of this thesis is composed of his later novels, published between 1991 and 2008 : Leviathan, The Book of Illusions, Oracle Night, The Brooklyn Follies, Travels in the Scriptorium and Man in the Dark. The thesis aims to analyse the evolution of autofiction but also metafiction in this author's novels. Divided into three parts, this work focuses firstly on the spatio-temporal elements in Paul Auster's novels before analysing the metafictional aspect of the novels of the corpus. In the first part, the thesis distinguishes between two spaces: the interior space and the exterior space. It shows how these two spaces cohabit. In the second part, the thesis analyses the temporal elements in the novels, whether they be linked to memory or to the structure of the story. The work then examines the role played by contemporary history which has an impact on the lives of the characters and how this role becomes more and more important throughout the novels, especially after 9/11. Finally, the thesis focuses on the way in which the act of writing is presented in Paul Auster's works, and the way in which it participates in the autofiction by emphasizing the author's identity as a writer. The role of language, the evolution of the writing mediums, the description of the methodology of writing and intratextuality, which shows the profound link between all Paul Auster's novels, are all examined in this last part .
