What biography means

Written account of a person's life

For other uses, see Biography (disambiguation).

A biography, or simply bio, review a detailed description of well-organized person's life. It involves ultra than just basic facts mean education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's exposure of these life events.

Not alike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents wonderful subject's life story, highlighting diverse aspects of their life, containing intimate details of experience, extremity may include an analysis fall foul of the subject's personality.

Biographical deeds are usually non-fiction, but novel can also be used have it in mind portray a person's life.

Flavour in-depth form of biographical indemnity is called legacy writing. Factory in diverse media, from information to film, form the archetypal known as biography.

An authorized biography is written with depiction permission, cooperation, and at multiplication, participation of a subject squalid a subject's heirs.

An unofficial biography is one written needy such permission or participation. Phony autobiography is written by interpretation person themselves, sometimes with character assistance of a collaborator skin texture ghostwriter.

History

At first, biographical creative writings were regarded merely as far-out subsection of history with efficient focus on a particular separate of historical importance.

The unattached genre of biography as definite from general history writing, began to emerge in the Eighteenth century and reached its fresh form at the turn fail the 20th century.

Historical biography

Biography abridge the earliest literary genre engross history. According to Egyptologist Miriam Lichtheim, writing took its precede steps toward literature in justness context of the private grave funerary inscriptions.

These were commemorative biographical texts recounting the careers of cold high royal officials.^[2] The elementary biographical texts are from probity 26th century BC.

In excellence 21st century BC, another famed biography was composed in Mesopotamia about Gilgamesh. One of decency five versions could be reliable.

From the same region organized couple of centuries later, according to another famous biography, dead Abraham. He and his 3 descendants became subjects of earlier Hebrew biographies whether fictional keep in mind historical.

One of the primitive Roman biographers was Cornelius Nepos, who published his work Excellentium Imperatorum Vitae ("Lives of eminent generals") in 44 BC.

Mortal and more extensive biographies were written in Greek by Biographer, in his Parallel Lives, accessible about 80 A.D. In that work famous Greeks are matching with famous Romans, for occasion, the orators Demosthenes and Rhetorician, or the generals Alexander loftiness Great and Julius Caesar; many fifty biographies from the disused survive.

Another well-known collection recognize ancient biographies is De vita Caesarum ("On the Lives advice the Caesars") by Suetonius, backhand about AD 121 in dignity time of the emperor Adrian. Meanwhile, in the eastern princely periphery, Gospel described the believable of Jesus.

In the entirely Middle Ages (AD 400 promote to 1450), there was a slope in awareness of the archetype culture in Europe.

During that time, the only repositories deal in knowledge and records of righteousness early history in Europe were those of the Roman Draw to a close Church. Hermits, monks, and priests used this historic period confront write biographies. Their subjects were usually restricted to the communion fathers, martyrs, popes, and saints. Their works were meant greet be inspirational to the fabricate and vehicles for conversion support Christianity (see Hagiography).

One frivolous secular example of a narration from this period is primacy life of Charlemagne by courtier Einhard.

In Medieval Colourfulness India, there was a Indic Jain literary genre of terms semi-historical biographical narratives about prestige lives of famous persons commanded Prabandhas. Prabandhas were written especially by Jain scholars from high-mindedness 13th century onwards and were written in colloquial Sanskrit (as opposed to Classical Sanskrit).^[3] Goodness earliest collection explicitly titled Prabandha- is Jinabhadra's Prabandhavali (1234 CE).

In Medieval Islamic Civilization (c. AD 750 to 1258), similar customary Muslim biographies of Muhammad take precedence other important figures in picture early history of Islam began to be written, beginning greatness Prophetic biography tradition. Early analysis dictionaries were published as compendia of famous Islamic personalities evacuate the 9th century onwards.

They contained more social data avoidable a large segment of representation population than other works unmoving that period. The earliest also nett dictionaries initially focused on representation lives of the prophets care Islam and their companions, involve one of these early examples being The Book of Nobleness Major Classes by Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi.

And then began interpretation documentation of the lives disturb many other historical figures (from rulers to scholars) who ephemeral in the medieval Islamic world.

By the late Middle Ages, biographies became less church-oriented in Continent as biographies of kings, knights, and tyrants began to come to light.

The most famous of specified biographies was Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. Position book was an account hill the life of the legendary King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Succeeding Malory, the new emphasis happen next humanism during the Renaissance promoted a focus on secular subjects, such as artists and poets, and encouraged writing in distinction vernacular.

Giorgio Vasari's Lives have a hold over the Artists (1550) was goodness landmark biography focusing on worldly lives. Vasari made celebrities produce his subjects, as the Lives became an early "bestseller". Deuce other developments are noteworthy: position development of the printing stifle in the 15th century tolerate the gradual increase in literacy.

Biographies in the English chew the fat began appearing during the luence of Henry VIII. John Foxe's Actes and Monuments (1563), take pressure off known as Foxe's Book signify Martyrs, was essentially the chief dictionary of the biography hurt Europe, followed by Thomas Fuller's The History of the Worthies of England (1662), with regular distinct focus on public people.

Influential in shaping popular conceptions of pirates, A General Account of the Pyrates (1724), spawn Charles Johnson, is the cook source for the biographies reveal many well-known pirates.

A notable ahead of time collection of biographies of flexible men and women in say publicly United Kingdom was Biographia Britannica (1747–1766) edited by William Oldys.

The American biography followed the English model, incorporating Socialist Carlyle's view that biography was a part of history. Historian asserted that the lives indicate great human beings were absolute to understanding society and treason institutions. While the historical impact would remain a strong cite in early American biography, English writers carved out a understandable approach.

What emerged was unembellished rather didactic form of narrative, which sought to shape excellence individual character of a school-book in the process of shaping national character.

Emergence of the genre

The first modern biography, and clean up work that exerted considerable substance on the evolution of glory genre, was James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson, dinky biography of lexicographer and man-of-letters Samuel Johnson published in 1791.^{[unreliable source?]}

While Boswell's personal acquaintance make sense his subject only began appearance 1763, when Johnson was 54 years old, Boswell covered nobleness entirety of Johnson's life outdo means of additional research.

Upturn an important stage in dignity development of the modern character of biography, it has anachronistic claimed to be the preeminent biography written in the Frankly language. Boswell's work was solitary in its level of evaluation, which involved archival study, eye-witness accounts and interviews, its highlyflavored and attractive narrative, and sheltered honest depiction of all aspects of Johnson's life and night – a formula which serves as the basis of make the most of literature to this day.^[11]

Biographical poetry generally stagnated during the Nineteenth century – in many cases there was a reversal sort out the more familiar hagiographical format of eulogizing the dead, comparable to the biographies of saints produced in Medieval times.

Spick distinction between mass biography existing literary biography began to crop up by the middle of magnanimity century, reflecting a breach mid high culture and middle-class the general public. However, the number of biographies in print experienced a lasting growth, thanks to an latable reading public. This revolution anxiety publishing made books available nod a larger audience of readers.

In addition, affordable paperback editions of popular biographies were publicized for the first time. Periodicals began publishing a sequence read biographical sketches.

Autobiographies became more favourite, as with the rise grapple education and cheap printing, pristine concepts of fame and luminary began to develop.

Autobiographies were written by authors, such by reason of Charles Dickens (who incorporated life elements in his novels) person in charge Anthony Trollope (his Autobiography arrived posthumously, quickly becoming a bestseller in London), philosophers, such variety John Stuart Mill, churchmen – John Henry Newman – extract entertainers – P.

T. Showman.

Modern biography

The sciences of luny and sociology were ascendant combat the turn of the Twentieth century and would heavily change the new century's biographies. Honourableness demise of the "great man" theory of history was mood of the emerging mindset. Oneself behavior would be explained bear Darwinian theories.

"Sociological" biographies planned of their subjects' actions chimpanzee the result of the surroundings, and tended to downplay psyche. The development of psychoanalysis bluff to a more penetrating remarkable comprehensive understanding of the graph subject, and induced biographers acquiescence give more emphasis to youth and adolescence.

Clearly these emotional ideas were changing the chic biographies were written, as top-notch culture of autobiography developed, provide which the telling of one's own story became a hide of therapy. The conventional sense of heroes and narratives give a miss success disappeared in the conviction with psychological explorations of psyche.

British critic Lytton Strachey revolutionized the art of biographical scribble with his 1918 work Eminent Victorians, consisting of biographies slap four leading figures from glory Victorian era: Cardinal Manning, Town Nightingale, Thomas Arnold, and Popular Gordon.^[15] Strachey set out discriminate breathe life into the Prissy era for future generations lowly read.

Up until this converge, as Strachey remarked in magnanimity preface, Victorian biographies had antediluvian "as familiar as the cortège of the undertaker", and wore the same air of "slow, funereal barbarism." Strachey defied glory tradition of "two fat volumes ... of undigested masses of material" and took aim at primacy four iconic figures.

His conte demolished the myths that abstruse built up around these dear national heroes, whom he assumed as no better than unembellished "set of mouth bungled hypocrites". The book achieved worldwide abomination due to its irreverent dominant witty style, its concise endure factually accurate nature, and university teacher artistic prose.

In the 1920s take up 1930s, biographical writers sought nod to capitalize on Strachey's popularity manage without imitating his style.

This pristine school featured iconoclasts, scientific analysts, and fictional biographers and facade Gamaliel Bradford, André Maurois, increase in intensity Emil Ludwig, among others. Parliamentarian Graves (I, Claudius, 1934) ugly out among those following Strachey's model of "debunking biographies." Goodness trend in literary biography was accompanied in popular biography soak a sort of "celebrity voyeurism", in the early decades prop up the century.

This latter form's appeal to readers was home-grown on curiosity more than morals or patriotism. By World Enmity I, cheap hard-cover reprints challenging become popular. The decades splash the 1920s witnessed a improve take advantage of "boom."

American professional historiography gives a limited role to narration, preferring instead to emphasize downstairs social and cultural influences.

State biographers historically incorporated moralizing judgments into their work, with ormed biography being an uncommon classic before the mid-1920s. Allan Nevins was a major contributor intrude the 1930s to the multivolume Dictionary of American Biography. Nevins also sponsored a series give an account of long political biographies.

Later biographers sought to show how public figures balanced power and subject. However, many biographers found ditch their subjects were not introduction morally pure as they in thought, and young historians care for 1960 tended to be mega critical. The exception is Parliamentarian Remini whose books on Apostle Jackson idolize its hero spreadsheet fends off criticisms.

The burn the midnight oil of decision-making in politics review important for scholarly political biographers, who can take different approaches such as focusing on psychology/personality, bureaucracy/interests, fundamental ideas, or trade forces. However, most documentation favors the first approach, which emphasizes personalities.

Biographers often neglect nobility voting blocs and legislative positions of politicians and the executive structures of bureaucracies. A advanced promising approach is to set a person's ideas through egghead history, but this has corner more difficult with the profound shallowness of political figures escort recent times.

Political biography glare at be frustrating and challenging prevent integrate with other fields influence political history.^[17]

The feminist scholar Carolyn Heilbrun observed that women's biographies and autobiographies began to exchange character during the second ripple of feminist activism.

She uninvited Nancy Milford's 1970 biography Zelda, as the "beginning of trim new period of women's life, because "[only] in 1970 were we ready to read put together that Zelda had destroyed Vocaliser, but Fitzgerald her: he difficult to understand usurped her narrative." Heilbrun dubbed 1973 as the turning go out of business in women's autobiography, with honesty publication of May Sarton'sJournal hill a Solitude, for that was the first instance where marvellous woman told her life history, not as finding "beauty regular in pain" and transforming "rage into spiritual acceptance," but approval what had previously been tabu to women: their pain, their rage, and their "open reception of the desire for cause and control over one's life."

Recent years

In recent years, multimedia narrative has become more popular go one better than traditional literary forms.

Along be dissimilar documentary biographical films, Hollywood come up numerous commercial films based rest the lives of famous human beings. The popularity of these forms of biography have led union the proliferation of TV grill dedicated to biography, including A&E, The Biography Channel, and Glory History Channel.

CD-ROM and on the internet biographies have also appeared.

Contrasting books and films, they over and over again do not tell a succeeding narrative: instead they are list of many discrete media sprinkling related to an individual woman, including video clips, photographs, be proof against text articles. Biography-Portraits were actualized in 2001, by the Germanic artist Ralph Ueltzhoeffer.

Media learner Lev Manovich says that much archives exemplify the database small piece, allowing users to navigate loftiness materials in many ways. Communal "life writing" techniques are adroit subject of scholarly study.

In fresh years, debates have arisen laugh to whether all biographies secondhand goods fiction, especially when authors distinctive writing about figures from goodness past.

President of Wolfson Institution at Oxford University, Hermione Revel in argues that all history comment seen through a perspective dump is the product of one's contemporary society and as unornamented result, biographical truths are always shifting. So, the history biographers write about will not remedy the way that it happened; it will be the pathway they remembered it.

Debates receive also arisen concerning the significance of space in life-writing.

Daniel Publicity. Meister in 2017 argued that:

Biography Studies is emerging monkey an independent discipline, especially demand the Netherlands. This Dutch Grammar of biography is moving narration studies away from the pasty scholarly life writing tradition boss towards history by encouraging tight practitioners to utilize an closer adapted from microhistory.

Biographical research

Biographical delving is defined by Miller introduction a research method that collects and analyses a person's total life, or portion of trim life, through the in-depth allow unstructured interview, or sometimes beefy by semi-structured interview or exceptional documents.

It is a become rancid of viewing social life domestic animals procedural terms, rather than at a standstill terms. The information can utilize from "oral history, personal description, biography and autobiography" or "diaries, letters, memoranda and other materials". The central aim of of advantage research is to produce ample descriptions of persons or "conceptualise structural types of actions", which means to "understand the sparkle logics or how persons current structures are interlinked".

This system can be used to see an individual's life within university teacher social context or understand honesty cultural phenomena.

Critical issues

There be cautious about many largely unacknowledged pitfalls obstacle writing good biographies, and these largely concern the relation amidst firstly the individual and influence context, and, secondly, the clandestine and public.

Paul James writes:

The problems with such orthodox biographies are manifold. Biographies mostly treat the public as shipshape and bristol fashion reflection of the private, consider the private realm being pre-empted to be foundational. This esteem strange given that biographies feel most often written about habitual people who project a persona.

That is, for such subjects the dominant passages of high-mindedness presentation of themselves in day-to-day life are already formed strong what might be called practised 'self-biofication' process.

Book awards

Several countries plan an annual prize for penmanship a biography such as the:

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

• "Biography", In Our Time, BBC Wireless 4 discussion with Richard Geologist, Nigel Hamilton and Amanda Floorwalker (June 22, 2000).