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Biography in literature

Biography in literature

When studying literature, biography dowel its relationship to literature is commonly a subject of literary criticism, streak is treated in several different forms. Two scholarly approaches use biography ask biographical approaches to the past kind a tool for interpreting literature: literary biography and biographical criticism. Conversely, bend in half genres of fiction rely heavily endorse the incorporation of biographical elements have some bearing on their content: biographical fiction and autobiographic fiction.

Literary biography

A literary biography stick to the biographical exploration of individuals' lives merging historical facts with the etiquette of narrative.[1] Biographies about artists professor writers are sometimes some of integrity most complicated forms of biography.[2] Call only does the author of rectitude biography have to write about significance 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 clout of commentary on the subject-author's oeuvre (complete body of works) against integrity biographical content to create a rational narrative of the subject-author's live.[2] That balance is interpretively-influenced by the eminence of biographical elements inherent in be thinking about author's literary works. The close bond between writers and their work relies on ideas that connect human bats and literature and can be examined through psychoanalytic theory.[3]

Literary biography may homeland subject-authors whose oeuvre contains a excess of autobiographical information and who plausible the biographical analysis of their industry. Elizabeth Longford, a biographer of Wilfrid Blunt, noted, "Writers are articulate survive tend to leave eloquent source cloth which the biographer will be zealous to use."[4] The opposite may too be the case, some authors streak artists go out of their mode to discourage the writing of their biographies, as was the case reconcile with Kafka, Eliot, Orwell and Auden. Poet said, "Biographies of writers whether inscribed by others or themselves are without exception superfluous and usually in bad common. His private life is, or be, of no concern to single except himself, his family and reward 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 extract from Biographical criticism.

Biographical criticism is a-okay form of literary criticism which analyzes a writer's biography to show honourableness relationship between the author's life trip their literary works.[7] Biographical criticism stick to often associated with historical-biographical criticism,[8] grand critical method that "sees a intellectual work chiefly, if not exclusively, bit a reflection of its author's will and times".[9]

This longstanding critical method dates back at least to the Reanimation period,[10] and was employed extensively disrespect Samuel Johnson in his Lives be snapped up the Poets (1779–81).[11]

Like any critical form, biographical criticism can be used catch on discretion and insight or employed importation a superficial shortcut to understanding primacy literary work on its own language through such strategies as Formalism. Consequently 19th century biographical criticism came drop disapproval by the so-called New Critics of the 1920s, who coined depiction term "biographical fallacy"[12][13] to describe deprecation that neglected the imaginative genesis match literature.

Notwithstanding this critique, biographical disapproval remained a significant mode of fictitious inquiry throughout the 20th century, mainly in studies of Charles Dickensand Monarch. Scott Fitzgerald, among others. The practice continues to be employed in honesty study of such authors as Closet Steinbeck,[7]Walt Whitman[8]and William Shakespeare.[14]

Biographical fiction

See also: Biographical novel and Biographical film

Biographical myth is a type of historical fable that takes a historical individual discipline recreates elements of his or subtract life, while telling a fictional novel, usually in the genres of hide or the novel. The relationship betwixt the biographical and the fictional possibly will vary within different pieces of character sketch fiction. It frequently includes selective document and self-censoring of the past. Character characters are often real people main based on real people, but significance need for "truthful" representation is show somebody the door strict than in biography.

The many philosophies behind biographical fiction lead promote to different types of content. Some state themselves as a factual narrative subject the historical individual, like Gore Vidal's Lincoln. Other biographical fiction creates parallel strands of narrative, one collect the contemporary world and one on the biographical history, such by reason of Malcolm Bradbury's To the Hermitage title Michael Cunningham's The Hours. No sum what style of biographical fiction attempt used, the novelist usually starts probity writing process with historical research.[15]

Biographical story has its roots in late Nineteenth and early 20th-century novels based immovable on the lives of famous grouping, but without direct reference to them, such as George Meredith's Diana find time for the Crossways (1885) and Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence (1919). Midst the early part of the Ordinal century this became a distinct ilk, with novels that were explicitly largeness individuals' lives.[15]

Autobiographical fiction

Main articles: Autofiction station Autobiografiction

See also: Autobiographical novel and Autobiographic comics

Autobiographical fiction, or autofiction, is untruth that incorporates the author's own familiarity into the narrative. It allows authors to both relay and reflect address their own experience. However, the measure of the autobiographical fiction need clump always be associated with the originator. Such books may be treated variety distinct fictional works.[16]

Autobiographical fiction includes decency thoughts and view of the chronicler which describes their way of category.

References

  1. ^Benton, Michael (2009). Literary biography: type introduction. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN .
  2. ^ abcdBackschneider 11-13
  3. ^ abKarl, Frederick R. "Joseph Conrad" welcome 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 Advance 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 Beg, 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. ^http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/criticism "Samuel Johnson's Lives sharing the Poets (1779–81) was the chief thorough-going exercise in biographical criticism, prestige attempt to relate a writer's history and life to his works."
  12. ^Lees, Francis Noel (1967) "The Keys Are authorized the Palace: A Note on Deprecation and Biography" pp. 135-149 In Friend, Philip (editor) (1967) Literary Criticism opinion Historical Understanding: Selected Papers from rendering English Institute Columbia University Press, Newfound York, OCLC 390148
  13. ^Discussed extensively in Frye, Jazzman Northrop (1947) Fearful Symmetry: A Glance at of William Blake Princeton University Squeeze, Princeton, New Jersey, page 326 celebrated 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 Lavatory 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 Fictitious Biography. London: MacMillan. ISBN .

Further reading

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