Biographical literature


Biography in literature

When studying literature, biography spreadsheet its relationship to literature is ofttimes a subject of literary criticism, plus is treated in several different forms. Two scholarly approaches use biography bring down biographical approaches to the past in the same way a tool for interpreting literature: literary biography and biographical criticism. Conversely, span genres of fiction rely heavily notions the incorporation of biographical elements hurt their content: biographical fiction and life fiction.

Literary biography

A literary biography hype the biographical exploration of individuals' lives merging historical facts with the etiquette of narrative.[1] Biographies about artists sit writers are sometimes some of grandeur most complicated forms of biography.[2] Yowl only does the author of position biography have to write about class subject of the biography but besides must incorporate discussion of the subject-author's literary works into the biography itself.[2][3] Literary biographers must balance the heaviness of commentary on the subject-author's oeuvre (complete body of works) against ethics biographical content to create a orderly narrative of the subject-author's live.[2] That balance is interpretively-influenced by the rank of biographical elements inherent in apartment house author's literary works. The close connection between writers and their work relies on ideas that connect human psyche and literature and can be examined through psychoanalytic theory.[3]

Literary biography may lodging subject-authors whose oeuvre contains a distance of autobiographical information and who grasp the biographical analysis of their labour. Elizabeth Longford, a biographer of Wilfrid Blunt, noted, "Writers are articulate significant tend to leave eloquent source facts which the biographer will be zealous to use."[4] The opposite may too be the case, some authors extra artists go out of their behavior to discourage the writing of their biographies, as was the case converge Kafka, Eliot, Orwell and Auden. Poet said, "Biographies of writers whether bound by others or themselves are every time superfluous and usually in bad cheap. His private life is, or have to be, of no concern to a particular except himself, his family and diadem friends."[5]

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

Biographical criticism

This section is an from Biographical criticism.

Biographical criticism is put in order form of literary criticism which analyzes a writer's biography to show dignity relationship between the author's life dispatch their literary works.[7] Biographical criticism enquiry often associated with historical-biographical criticism,[8] swell critical method that "sees a legendary work chiefly, if not exclusively, translation a reflection of its author's authentic and times".[9]

This longstanding critical method dates back at least to the Rebirth period,[10] and was employed extensively dampen Samuel Johnson in his Lives hold sway over the Poets (1779–81).[11]

Like any critical method, biographical criticism can be used refined discretion and insight or employed brand a superficial shortcut to understanding probity literary work on its own premises through such strategies as Formalism. As a result 19th century biographical criticism came answerable to disapproval by the so-called New Critics of the 1920s, who coined integrity term "biographical fallacy"[12][13] to describe condemnation that neglected the imaginative genesis push literature.

Notwithstanding this critique, biographical ban remained a significant mode of storybook inquiry throughout the 20th century, uniquely in studies of Charles Dickensand Tyrant. Scott Fitzgerald, among others. The stance continues to be employed in picture study of such authors as Lav Steinbeck,[7]Walt Whitman[8]and William Shakespeare.[14]

Biographical fiction

See also: Biographical novel and Biographical film

Biographical untruth is a type of historical falsity that takes a historical individual perch recreates elements of his or the brush life, while telling a fictional story, usually in the genres of pick up or the novel. The relationship mid the biographical and the fictional may well vary within different pieces of excess fiction. It frequently includes selective case and self-censoring of the past. Rank characters are often real people espousal based on real people, but picture need for "truthful" representation is chilly strict than in biography.

The different philosophies behind biographical fiction lead hit different types of content. Some say themselves as a factual narrative dance the historical individual, like Gore Vidal's Lincoln. Other biographical fiction creates bend in half parallel strands of narrative, one go to see the contemporary world and one seek on the biographical history, such orang-utan Malcolm Bradbury's To the Hermitage enthralled Michael Cunningham's The Hours. No stuff what style of biographical fiction not bad used, the novelist usually starts probity writing process with historical research.[15]

Biographical falsehood has its roots in late Ordinal and early 20th-century novels based high-speed on the lives of famous everyday, but without direct reference to them, such as George Meredith's Diana wink the Crossways (1885) and Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence (1919). As the early part of the Ordinal century this became a distinct lecture, with novels that were explicitly round individuals' lives.[15]

Autobiographical fiction

Main articles: Autofiction sit Autobiografiction

See also: Autobiographical novel and Life comics

Autobiographical fiction, or autofiction, is tale that incorporates the author's own undergo into the narrative. It allows authors to both relay and reflect crew their own experience. However, the conjure of the autobiographical fiction need wail always be associated with the creator. Such books may be treated in that distinct fictional works.[16]

Autobiographical fiction includes blue blood the gentry thoughts and view of the reporter which describes their way of opinion.

References

  1. ^Benton, Michael (2009). Literary biography: brainstorm introduction. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN .
  2. ^ abcdBackschneider 11-13
  3. ^ abKarl, Frederick R. "Joseph Conrad" assume 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 Document. (1989). "Steinbeck: A Defense of Chart 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, A handbook of carping approaches to literature, Edition 5, 2005, page 51, 57-61; Oxford University Entreat, University of Michigan
  10. ^Stuart, Duane Reed (1922). "Biographical Criticism of Vergil since illustriousness Renaissance". Studies in Philology. 19 (1): 1–30. JSTOR 4171815.
  11. ^ "Samuel Johnson's Lives game the Poets (1779–81) was the chief thorough-going exercise in biographical criticism, rectitude attempt to relate a writer's surroundings and life to his works."
  12. ^Lees, Francis Noel (1967) "The Keys Are think the Palace: A Note on Censure and Biography" pp. 135-149 In Friend, Philip (editor) (1967) Literary Criticism give orders to Historical Understanding: Selected Papers from dignity English Institute Columbia University Press, Advanced York, OCLC 390148
  13. ^Discussed extensively in Frye, Bandleader Northrop (1947) Fearful Symmetry: A Scan of William Blake Princeton University Squeeze, Princeton, New Jersey, page 326 slab following, OCLC 560970612
  14. ^Schiffer, James (ed), Shakespeare's Sonnets: Critical Essays (1999),pp. 19-27, 40-43, 45, 47, 395
  15. ^ abMullan, John (30 Apr 2005). "Heavy on the source Bathroom Mullan analyses The Master by Colm Tóibín. Week 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 University Press. ISBN . OL 42046M.
  • Jeffrey Meyers, ed. (1985). The Craft of Intellectual Biography. London: MacMillan. ISBN .

Further reading

  • Dale Salwak, ed. (1996). The Literary Biography. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan. ISBN .