Th is essay examines the relationship between contemporary Hungarian autopathographies and the myth of the solitary hero. Illness-monomyth – a widespread narrative pattern that underlines the ill person’s mental investment and responsibility in their recovery – seems difficult to avoid when writing about illness, even one’s own life-threatening somatic disease. Understanding the genre as consisting of several competing narratives, the article discusses eight autopathographies from different aspects. e list of works discussed includes books by established writers as well as journalists and amateur autobiographers, and the correlations between narrative choices and gender as well as cultural status are also considered.

Th is essay examines the relationship between contemporary Hungarian autopathographies and the myth of the solitary hero. Illness-monomyth – a widespread narrative pattern that underlines the ill person’s mental investment and responsibility in their recovery – seems difficult to avoid when writing about illness, even one’s own life-threatening somatic disease. Understanding the genre as consisting of several competing narratives, the article discusses eight autopathographies from different aspects. e list of works discussed includes books by established writers as well as journalists and amateur autobiographers, and the correlations between narrative choices and gender as well as cultural status are also considered.