This paper begins with a brief overview of the most famous literary-historical readings of Dositej’s major work, in order to consider the question of determining its genre nature from the end of the 18th century to the present day. Functionally problematizing the necessary criteria for the constitution of a typical autobiography, we strive to single out the basic factors that distinguish the mentioned genre from the novel. Exami­ning the characters, dialogues and some of the most impressive scenes from Dositej’s work, we point to its genre hybridity and assess the degree of the writer’s commitment to the enlightenment-rationalist concept. Finally, we scrutinize the difference between those elements that are didactic and those that, from a purely artistic point of view, could be considered literary.