Peter France and William St Clair (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263181
- eISBN:
- 9780191734595
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263181.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Why biography? This collection of chapters on the problems and functions of biography, and particularly the biography of writers, thinkers, and artists, investigates a subject of enduring importance ...
More
Why biography? This collection of chapters on the problems and functions of biography, and particularly the biography of writers, thinkers, and artists, investigates a subject of enduring importance for those interested in culture and society. In the last century, it has been a controversial subject, as old models of biographical writing were attacked and superseded, while critics and theorists questioned the once self-evident value of the biography of writers. Yet the genre continues to attract notable authors and is unfailingly popular with readers. The present volume, while containing chapters by practising biographers, is intended primarily as a stimulus to critical thinking. It focuses on the diverse functions assumed by life-writing in different European countries at different periods, challenging both the notion of a genre with constant characteristics and aims and the view of modern biography as the happy culmination of centuries of progress.Less
Why biography? This collection of chapters on the problems and functions of biography, and particularly the biography of writers, thinkers, and artists, investigates a subject of enduring importance for those interested in culture and society. In the last century, it has been a controversial subject, as old models of biographical writing were attacked and superseded, while critics and theorists questioned the once self-evident value of the biography of writers. Yet the genre continues to attract notable authors and is unfailingly popular with readers. The present volume, while containing chapters by practising biographers, is intended primarily as a stimulus to critical thinking. It focuses on the diverse functions assumed by life-writing in different European countries at different periods, challenging both the notion of a genre with constant characteristics and aims and the view of modern biography as the happy culmination of centuries of progress.
Roy K. Gibson
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- June 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780199948192
- eISBN:
- 9780190094003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199948192.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
Modern biographies of ancient individuals focus on emperors and generals, as a form of political or military history. A biography of a ‘private’ individual like Pliny raises more urgently the ...
More
Modern biographies of ancient individuals focus on emperors and generals, as a form of political or military history. A biography of a ‘private’ individual like Pliny raises more urgently the question of the distorting effects of our biographical norms. Modern biography encourages the recreation of a ‘unique individual’, insight into the effects of childhood, or the reconstruction of a rich inner life. Approaches of this sort are not suited to Pliny: he was not interested in the ‘interiority’ found in Catullus or Augustine. Pliny’s individuality can be captured by working along the grain of the Letters: by focusing on the range of locales in which he lived, worked, and owned properties. No Roman writer, not even Vergil, ties his identity to the regions of Italy more successfully than Pliny. This approach is suited to the episodic nature both of Pliny’s own life and of the evidence available.Less
Modern biographies of ancient individuals focus on emperors and generals, as a form of political or military history. A biography of a ‘private’ individual like Pliny raises more urgently the question of the distorting effects of our biographical norms. Modern biography encourages the recreation of a ‘unique individual’, insight into the effects of childhood, or the reconstruction of a rich inner life. Approaches of this sort are not suited to Pliny: he was not interested in the ‘interiority’ found in Catullus or Augustine. Pliny’s individuality can be captured by working along the grain of the Letters: by focusing on the range of locales in which he lived, worked, and owned properties. No Roman writer, not even Vergil, ties his identity to the regions of Italy more successfully than Pliny. This approach is suited to the episodic nature both of Pliny’s own life and of the evidence available.
