Biography
Biography compared to autopsy: a posthumous examination of a person who no longer
lives. The emotions, thoughts, and temperament of the person do not emerge.
Biography as a portrait: this metaphor suggests empathy, bringing to life. Portraits and
autopsies share the fact that they will shape how posterity will view a person.
Rules for biography:
- True story (however, narratives are often dramatized)
- The story should cover the whole life (until the 20th century, few details were
given on childhood) – a rule that has often been broken
- Nothing should be omitted or concealed
- All sources used should be identified – authentication is desirable but not always
applied
- The biographer should know the subject
- Objectiveness - a rule often disregarded
- Biography is a form of history – place the subject in the specific historical period
- Biography as an investigation of identity: how to represent the self? In early
biographies, the idea emerges that people can be labelled by universal
categories, whereas from the mid-18th century, there is a shift towards
originality and individualism. Late 19th/20th century: fluctuations in identity and
unknowability of the self.
- The story should have some value for the reader – biography raises moral
issues. It presents us with a model or the depiction of what not to be
There are no rules for biography
