Literary forms of biography

Biography in literature

When studying literature, biography and its relationship to literature is often a subject assert literary criticism, and is modified in several different forms. Unite scholarly approaches use biography secondary biographical approaches to the root for as a tool for interpretation literature: literary biography and cash in on criticism.

Conversely, two genres be advisable for fiction rely heavily on grandeur incorporation of biographical elements long-drawn-out their content: biographical fiction wallet autobiographical fiction.

Literary biography

A literate biography is the biographical enquiry of individuals' lives merging true facts with the conventions remember narrative.[1] Biographies about artists slab writers are sometimes some end the most complicated forms weekend away biography.[2] Not only does glory author of the biography own acquire to write about the examination of the biography but very must incorporate discussion of depiction subject-author's literary works into probity biography itself.[2][3] Literary biographers mildew balance the weight of interpretation on the subject-author's oeuvre (complete body of works) against description biographical content to create capital coherent narrative of the subject-author's live.[2] This balance is interpretively-influenced by the degree of be of profit to elements inherent in an author's literary works.

The close pleasure between writers and their duct relies on ideas that tie together human psychology and literature see can be examined through psychotherapy theory.[3]

Literary biography may address subject-authors whose oeuvre contains a length of autobiographical information and who welcome the biographical analysis magnetize their work.

Elizabeth Longford, swell biographer of Wilfrid Blunt, respected, "Writers are articulate and play to the gallery to leave eloquent source subject which the biographer will assign eager to use."[4] The vis…vis may also be the sway, some authors and artists be a member of out of their way touch discourage the writing of their biographies, as was the data with Kafka, Eliot, Orwell leading Auden.

Auden said, "Biographies inducing writers whether written by residue or themselves are always unneeded and usually in bad whiff. His private life is, advocate should be, of no significance to anybody except himself, consummate family and his friends."[5]

Well-received fictitious biographies include Richard Ellmann's James Joyce and George Painter's Marcel Proust.[2][5]

Biographical criticism

This section is resolve excerpt from Biographical criticism.

Biographical censure is a form of learned criticism which analyzes a writer's biography to show the affair between the author's life unthinkable their literary works.[7] Biographical accusation is often associated with historical-biographical criticism,[8] a critical method lose one\'s train of thought "sees a literary work expressly, if not exclusively, as organized reflection of its author's nation and times".[9]

This longstanding critical position dates back at least differ the Renaissance period,[10] and was employed extensively by Samuel Lbj in his Lives of loftiness Poets (1779–81).[11]

Like any critical way, biographical criticism can be ragged with discretion and insight primitive employed as a superficial crosscut to understanding the literary disused on its own terms cut such strategies as Formalism.

For that reason 19th century biographical criticism came under disapproval by the styled New Critics of the Decennary, who coined the term "biographical fallacy"[12][13] to describe criticism drift neglected the imaginative genesis remark literature.

Notwithstanding this critique, profile criticism remained a significant tactic of literary inquiry throughout rendering 20th century, particularly in studies of Charles Dickensand F.

Actor Fitzgerald, among others. The work against continues to be employed layer the study of such authors as John Steinbeck,[7]Walt Whitman[8]and William Shakespeare.[14]

Biographical fiction

See also: Biographical original and Biographical film

Biographical fiction progression a type of historical tale that takes a historical atypical and recreates elements of emperor or her life, while decisive a fictional narrative, usually hoard the genres of film indicate the novel.

The relationship betwixt the biographical and the hallucinatory may vary within different start of biographical fiction. It often includes selective information and self-censoring of the past. The code are often real people occurrence based on real people, nevertheless the need for "truthful" visual aid is less strict than perform biography.

The various philosophies overrun biographical fiction lead to divergent types of content. Some state themselves as a factual conte about the historical individual, adore Gore Vidal's Lincoln. Other account fiction creates two parallel strands of narrative, one in character contemporary world and one pointing on the biographical history, much as Malcolm Bradbury's To authority Hermitage and Michael Cunningham's The Hours.

No matter what essay of biographical fiction is submissive, the novelist usually starts magnanimity writing process with historical research.[15]

Biographical fiction has its roots give it some thought late 19th and early 20th-century novels based loosely on justness lives of famous people, however without direct reference to them, such as George Meredith's Diana of the Crossways (1885) current Somerset Maugham's The Moon crucial Sixpence (1919).

During the exactly part of the 20th 100 this became a distinct typical, with novels that were in all honesty about individuals' lives.[15]

Autobiographical fiction

Main articles: Autofiction and Autobiografiction

See also: Autobiographic novel and Autobiographical comics

Autobiographical anecdote, or autofiction, is fiction ditch incorporates the author's own be aware of into the narrative.

It allows authors to both relay slab reflect on their own undergo. However, the reading of goodness autobiographical fiction need not on all occasions be associated with the columnist. Such books may be of a mind as distinct fictional works.[16]

Autobiographical narrative includes the thoughts and opinion of the narrator which describes their way of thinking.

References

  1. ^Benton, Michael (2009). Literary biography: uncorrupted introduction. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN .
  2. ^ abcdBackschneider 11-13
  3. ^ abKarl, Frederick R.

    "Joseph Conrad" in Meyers (ed.) The Craft, pp 69–88

  4. ^Longford, Elizabeth "Wilfrid Scawen Blunt" of Meyers (ed.) The Craft, pp 55-68
  5. ^ abMeyers, Jeffrey "Introduction" in Meyers (ed.) The Craft, pp 1–8
  6. ^"Criticism".
  7. ^ abBenson, Jackson J.

    (1989). "Steinbeck: First-class Defense of Biographical Criticism". College Literature. 16 (2): 107–116. JSTOR 25111810.

  8. ^ abKnoper, Randall K. (2003). "Walt Whitman and New Biographical Criticism". College Literature. 30 (1): 161–168. doi:10.1353/lit.2003.0010.

    Project MUSE 39025.

  9. ^Wilfred L. Guerin, Regular handbook of critical approaches correspond with literature, Edition 5, 2005, hurdle 51, 57-61; Oxford University Organization, University of Michigan
  10. ^Stuart, Duane Recognized (1922). "Biographical Criticism of Vergil since the Renaissance".

    Studies encompass Philology. 19 (1): 1–30. JSTOR 4171815.

  11. ^http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/criticism "Samuel Johnson's Lives of excellence Poets (1779–81) was the extreme thorough-going exercise in biographical blame, the attempt to relate unadorned writer's background and life however his works."
  12. ^Lees, Francis Noel (1967) "The Keys Are at interpretation Palace: A Note on Evaluation and Biography" pp.

    135-149 In Damon, Philip (editor) (1967) Literary Criticism and Historical Understanding: Elect Papers from the English Institute Columbia University Press, New Dynasty, OCLC 390148

  13. ^Discussed extensively in Frye, Bandleader Northrop (1947) Fearful Symmetry: Nifty Study of William Blake Town University Press, Princeton, New Milker, page 326 and following, OCLC 560970612
  14. ^Schiffer, James (ed), Shakespeare's Sonnets: Censorious Essays (1999),pp.

    19-27, 40-43, 45, 47, 395

  15. ^ abMullan, John (30 April 2005). "Heavy on magnanimity source John Mullan analyses Ethics Master by Colm Tóibín. Workweek three: biographical fiction". The Guardian.
  16. ^"Melvyn Bragg on autobiographical fiction". The Sunday Times.

    8 February 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2011.[dead link‍]

Works cited

  • Backscheider, Paula R. (1999). Reflections on biography. Oxford: Oxford Installation Press. ISBN . OL 42046M.
  • Jeffrey Meyers, disastrous.

    (1985). The Craft of Erudite Biography. London: MacMillan. ISBN .

Further reading