Abstract: Julian Barnes's Nothing to Be Frightened of is an autobiographical work that combines death-writing and self-establishment. The work looks like a collection of prose essays apparently; however there is indeed an unusual  and obvious impulse of self-telling in the text which not only involves the author's family background and growing-up experience, but more importantly, shows a complete process of self-establishment. Meanwhile the text is closely related to the writing of death owing to the author's sensitivity to death and therefore this unique autobiographical text can be formed.

Keywords:  autobiography, death consciousness, death-writing, self-establishment