What's Up With the Title? - Analysis, The Autobiography Of Malcolm X

This looks like it should be a pretty straightforward case, but there are two big problems with the title. The first is with the word autobiography. Since it was basically a collaboration with Alex Haley, we are not sure if you could say the book is a "true" autobiography. For more on that, check out the "Genre" section.

The second problem is the name Malcolm X. Why use that name? By the end of his life, Malcolm X had changed his name to El Hajji Malik El Shabazz. So why isn't the title The Autobiography of El Hajji Malik El Shabazz? Well, if you're like most people, you've probably heard of Malcolm X but you might have been unfamiliar with El Hajji Malik El Shabazz until now.

The media continued to call El Hajji Malik El Shabazz by his former name and continued to speak about his prior beliefs even after he returned from Mecca. So that's the name and image of him that went down in history, even in his own autobiography. How do you think he would've felt about that?