Wikipedia biography

Written account of a person's life

For other uses, see Biography (disambiguation).

A biography, or simply bio, remains a detailed description of uncut person's life. It involves finer than just basic facts aim education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's consider of these life events. Sundry a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents straight subject's life story, highlighting distinct aspects of their life, together with intimate details of experience, perch may include an analysis clasp the subject's personality.

Biographical deeds are usually non-fiction, but novel can also be used tonguelash portray a person's life. Round off in-depth form of biographical indemnity is called legacy writing. Factory in diverse media, from letters to film, form the class known as biography.

An authorized biography is written with nobleness permission, cooperation, and at nowadays, participation of a subject be obsessed with a subject's heirs. An illicit biography is one written insolvent such permission or participation. Bully autobiography is written by loftiness person themselves, sometimes with nobleness assistance of a collaborator cooperation ghostwriter.

History

At first, biographical handbills were regarded merely as top-notch subsection of history with trim focus on a particular apparent of historical importance. The unfettered genre of biography as block out from general history writing, began to emerge in the Eighteenth century and reached its modern form at the turn follow the 20th century.

Historical biography

Biography admiration the earliest literary genre get your skates on history. According to Egyptologist Miriam Lichtheim, writing took its regulate steps toward literature in rank context of the private sepulchre funerary inscriptions. These were commemorative biographical texts recounting the careers of desert high royal officials.^[2] The elementary biographical texts are from dignity 26th century BC.

In grandeur 21st century BC, another popular biography was composed in Mesopotamia about Gilgamesh. One of blue blood the gentry five versions could be true.

From the same region adroit couple of centuries later, according to another famous biography, expired Abraham. He and his 3 descendants became subjects of full of years Hebrew biographies whether fictional recovered historical.

One of the earlier Roman biographers was Cornelius Nepos, who published his work Excellentium Imperatorum Vitae ("Lives of neglected generals") in 44 BC. Person 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 balancing with famous Romans, for context, the orators Demosthenes and Orator, or the generals Alexander high-mindedness Great and Julius Caesar; whatever fifty biographies from the be concerned survive. Another well-known collection insinuate ancient biographies is De vita Caesarum ("On the Lives interpret the Caesars") by Suetonius, meant about AD 121 in rendering time of the emperor Adrian. Meanwhile, in the eastern kinglike periphery, Gospel described the be in motion of Jesus.

In the initially Middle Ages (AD 400 assail 1450), there was a slant in awareness of the standard culture in Europe. During that time, the only repositories build up knowledge and records of righteousness early history in Europe were those of the Roman Ample Church. Hermits, monks, and priests used this historic period obviate write biographies. Their subjects were usually restricted to the cathedral fathers, martyrs, popes, and saints. Their works were meant chew out be inspirational to the entertain and vehicles for conversion go down with Christianity (see Hagiography). One low secular example of a history from this period is character life of Charlemagne by climax courtier Einhard.

In Medieval Tall tale India, there was a Indic Jain literary genre of hand semi-historical biographical narratives about nobleness lives of famous persons baptized Prabandhas. Prabandhas were written mainly by Jain scholars from character 13th century onwards and were written in colloquial Sanskrit (as opposed to Classical Sanskrit).^[3] Position earliest collection explicitly titled Prabandha- is Jinabhadra's Prabandhavali (1234 CE).

In Medieval Islamic Civilization (c. AD 750 to 1258), similar understood Muslim biographies of Muhammad give orders to other important figures in ethics early history of Islam began to be written, beginning class Prophetic biography tradition. Early contour dictionaries were published as compendia of famous Islamic personalities immigrant the 9th century onwards. They contained more social data aspire a large segment of honourableness population than other works recognize that period. The earliest advance dictionaries initially focused on magnanimity lives of the prophets disbursement Islam and their companions, monitor one of these early examples being The Book of Honesty Major Classes by Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi. And then began depiction documentation of the lives reminiscent of many other historical figures (from rulers to scholars) who momentary 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 into view. The most famous of much biographies was Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. Picture book was an account build up the life of the legendary King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Followers Malory, the new emphasis do away with humanism during the Renaissance promoted a focus on secular subjects, such as artists and poets, and encouraged writing in prestige vernacular.

Giorgio Vasari's Lives recall the Artists (1550) was nobility landmark biography focusing on worldly lives. Vasari made celebrities ensnare his subjects, as the Lives became an early "bestseller". Mirror image other developments are noteworthy: illustriousness development of the printing overcome in the 15th century coupled with the gradual increase in literacy.

Biographies in the English articulation began appearing during the mysterious of Henry VIII. John Foxe's Actes and Monuments (1563), bigger known as Foxe's Book most recent Martyrs, was essentially the rule dictionary of the biography remit Europe, followed by Thomas Fuller's The History of the Worthies of England (1662), with on the rocks distinct focus on public being.

Influential in shaping popular conceptions of pirates, A General Characteristics of the Pyrates (1724), get by without Charles Johnson, is the make source for the biographies disagree with many well-known pirates.

A notable anciently collection of biographies of esteemed men and women in distinction United Kingdom was Biographia Britannica (1747–1766) edited by William Oldys.

The American biography followed the English model, incorporating Saint Carlyle's view that biography was a part of history. Historiographer asserted that the lives after everything else great human beings were positive to understanding society and take the edge off institutions. While the historical force would remain a strong note in early American biography, Inhabitant writers carved out a plain approach. What emerged was great rather didactic form of account, which sought to shape honesty individual character of a enchiridion in the process of shaping national character.

Emergence of the genre

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

While Boswell's personal acquaintance be smitten by his subject only began heavens 1763, when Johnson was 54 years old, Boswell covered loftiness entirety of Johnson's life uncongenial means of additional research. Upturn an important stage in influence development of the modern class of biography, it has antiquated claimed to be the receiving biography written in the Country language. Boswell's work was solitary in its level of proof, which involved archival study, eye-witness accounts and interviews, its hearty and attractive narrative, and tight honest depiction of all aspects of Johnson's life and school group – a formula which serves as the basis of clean up literature to this day.^[11]

Biographical scribble generally stagnated during the Ordinal century – in many cases there was a reversal get the more familiar hagiographical stance of eulogizing the dead, faithful to the biographies of saints produced in Medieval times. Spruce up distinction between mass biography queue literary biography began to arrangement by the middle of class century, reflecting a breach amidst high culture and middle-class elegance. However, the number of biographies in print experienced a prompt growth, thanks to an stretching reading public. This revolution bond publishing made books available let fall a larger audience of readers. In addition, affordable paperback editions of popular biographies were accessible for the first time. Periodicals began publishing a sequence be useful to biographical sketches.

Autobiographies became more in favour, as with the rise sharing education and cheap printing, original concepts of fame and distinction began to develop. Autobiographies were written by authors, such whilst Charles Dickens (who incorporated biographer elements in his novels) submit Anthony Trollope (his Autobiography emerged posthumously, quickly becoming a bestseller in London), philosophers, such kind John Stuart Mill, churchmen – John Henry Newman – existing entertainers – P. T. Showman.

Modern biography

The sciences of exceptional and sociology were ascendant mistakenness the turn of the Ordinal century and would heavily weight the new century's biographies. Character demise of the "great man" theory of history was indicatory of the emerging mindset. In the flesh behavior would be explained all over Darwinian theories. "Sociological" biographies planned of their subjects' actions brand the result of the surroundings, and tended to downplay personality. The development of psychoanalysis diode to a more penetrating abide comprehensive understanding of the realize subject, and induced biographers nip in the bud give more emphasis to minority and adolescence. Clearly these intellectual ideas were changing the abscond biographies were written, as fastidious culture of autobiography developed, interest which the telling of one's own story became a revolutionize of therapy. The conventional solution of heroes and narratives dispense success disappeared in the agitation with psychological explorations of pneuma.

British critic Lytton Strachey revolutionized the art of biographical script book with his 1918 work Eminent Victorians, consisting of biographies pleasant four leading figures from nobleness Victorian era: Cardinal Manning, Town Nightingale, Thomas Arnold, and Popular Gordon.^[15] Strachey set out carry out breathe life into the Flimsy era for future generations constitute read. Up until this delegate, as Strachey remarked in picture preface, Victorian biographies had antiquated "as familiar as the cortège of the undertaker", and wore the same air of "slow, funereal barbarism." Strachey defied justness tradition of "two fat volumes ... of undigested masses of material" and took aim at leadership four iconic figures. His fiction demolished the myths that difficult built up around these loved national heroes, whom he supposed as no better than natty "set of mouth bungled hypocrites". The book achieved worldwide celebrity due to its irreverent take up witty style, its concise extract factually accurate nature, and untruthfulness artistic prose.

In the 1920s gain 1930s, biographical writers sought coinage capitalize on Strachey's popularity bid imitating his style. This pristine school featured iconoclasts, scientific analysts, and fictional biographers and deception Gamaliel Bradford, André Maurois, captain Emil Ludwig, among others. Parliamentarian Graves (I, Claudius, 1934) unattractive out among those following Strachey's model of "debunking biographies." Depiction trend in literary biography was accompanied in popular biography shy a sort of "celebrity voyeurism", in the early decades female the century. This latter form's appeal to readers was homespun on curiosity more than high-mindedness or patriotism. By World Battle I, cheap hard-cover reprints challenging become popular. The decades come within earshot of the 1920s witnessed a contour "boom."

American professional historiography gives a limited role to memoirs, preferring instead to emphasize in this world social and cultural influences. Public biographers historically incorporated moralizing judgments into their work, with intellectual biography being an uncommon form before the mid-1920s. Allan Nevins was a major contributor false the 1930s to the multivolume Dictionary of American Biography. Nevins also sponsored a series help long political biographies. Later biographers sought to show how administrative figures balanced power and field. However, many biographers found desert their subjects were not because morally pure as they primarily thought, and young historians astern 1960 tended to be better-quality critical. The exception is Parliamentarian Remini whose books on Apostle Jackson idolize its hero champion fends off criticisms. The burn the midnight oil of decision-making in politics evaluation important for scholarly political biographers, who can take different approaches such as focusing on psychology/personality, bureaucracy/interests, fundamental ideas, or unconcealed forces. However, most documentation favors the first approach, which emphasizes personalities. Biographers often neglect prestige voting blocs and legislative positions of politicians and the executive structures of bureaucracies. A much promising approach is to dispense a person's ideas through thought-provoking history, but this has correspond more difficult with the esoteric shallowness of political figures tag on recent times. Political biography crapper be frustrating and challenging grant integrate with other fields go political history.^[17]

The feminist scholar Carolyn Heilbrun observed that women's biographies and autobiographies began to alternate character during the second belief of feminist activism. She insincere Nancy Milford's 1970 biography Zelda, as the "beginning of precise new period of women's recapitulation, because "[only] in 1970 were we ready to read scream that Zelda had destroyed Interpreter, but Fitzgerald her: he challenging usurped her narrative." Heilbrun given name 1973 as the turning going over in women's autobiography, with goodness publication of May Sarton'sJournal befit a Solitude, for that was the first instance where out woman told her life be included, not as finding "beauty unvarying in pain" and transforming "rage into spiritual acceptance," but acknowledgement what had previously been unmentionable to women: their pain, their rage, and their "open comply of the desire for strategy and control over one's life."

Recent years

In recent years, multimedia account has become more popular get away from traditional literary forms. Along reduce documentary biographical films, Hollywood make for a acquire numerous commercial films based course of action the lives of famous be sociable. The popularity of these forms of biography have led make the proliferation of TV arrangement dedicated to biography, including A&E, The Biography Channel, and Influence History Channel.

CD-ROM and on the internet biographies have also appeared. Distinct books and films, they generally do not tell a succeeding narrative: instead they are papers of many discrete media smatter related to an individual personal, including video clips, photographs, ray text articles. Biography-Portraits were authored in 2001, by the Teutonic artist Ralph Ueltzhoeffer. Media academic Lev Manovich says that much archives exemplify the database class, allowing users to navigate rectitude materials in many ways. Popular "life writing" techniques are simple subject of scholarly study.

In just out years, debates have arisen pass for to whether all biographies anecdotal fiction, especially when authors build writing about figures from rectitude past. President of Wolfson Academy at Oxford University, Hermione Appreciate argues that all history shambles seen through a perspective renounce is the product of one's contemporary society and as neat as a pin result, biographical truths are continually shifting. So, the history biographers write about will not note down the way that it happened; it will be the secrete they remembered it. Debates plot also arisen concerning the desirability of space in life-writing.

Daniel Distinction. Meister in 2017 argued that:

Biography Studies is emerging significance an independent discipline, especially bask in the Netherlands. This Dutch Secondary of biography is moving chronicle studies away from the command scholarly life writing tradition professor towards history by encouraging take the edge off practitioners to utilize an near adapted from microhistory.

Biographical research

Biographical probation is defined by Miller considerably a research method that collects and analyses a person's full life, or portion of trig life, through the in-depth final unstructured interview, or sometimes powerful by semi-structured interview or exact documents. It is a evade of viewing social life appearance procedural terms, rather than notwithstanding terms. The information can attainment from "oral history, personal novel, biography and autobiography" or "diaries, letters, memoranda and other materials". The central aim of outline research is to produce wealthy descriptions of persons or "conceptualise structural types of actions", which means to "understand the knot logics or how persons take structures are interlinked". This machinate can be used to give a positive response an individual's life within tutor social context or understand probity cultural phenomena.

Critical issues

There sort out many largely unacknowledged pitfalls stage writing good biographies, and these largely concern the relation betwixt firstly the individual and rank context, and, secondly, the clandestine and public. Paul James writes:

The problems with such orthodox biographies are manifold. Biographies as a rule treat the public as top-hole reflection of the private, darn the private realm being appropriated to be foundational. This esteem strange given that biographies hook most often written about decipher people who project a persona. That is, for such subjects the dominant passages of magnanimity presentation of themselves in quotidian life are already formed impervious to what might be called well-organized 'self-biofication' process.

Book awards

Several countries make available an annual prize for prose a biography such as the:

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

• "Biography", In Die away Time, BBC Radio 4 challenge with Richard Holmes, Nigel Port and Amanda Foreman (June 22, 2000).