The article deals with the problem of mental trauma in Italian literature of recent 20 years. The paper focuses on autofiction, as the most representative example of literature about trauma. The author analyses novels which combine elements of reality and fiction, where the reader is invited to perceive the author and the protagonist as the same person. Based on reviewed examples, the researcher concludes that the ontemporary Italian writers want to perceive themself and Italian society through the prism of mental trauma, and trauma, real or imaginary it is, affects the collective identity of Italians, thereby contributing to their consolidation.