History of Life Writing - Autobiography and Biography
-One of the first mentioned “autobiographies” is St. Augustine’s Confessions, written in 4th century A.D. The idea of autobiography as a “confession” is later inferred by the works of the confessional poets.
-Plutarch’s (50-125AD) The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans is an example of an earlier biography that used letters as a major source of information, for the author to later use his own morals to influence what he chose to include.
-The first biography in the English language was written by Margery Kempe, giving a unique insight into the life of a woman in Medieval Times.
-The first modern biography was written by Richard Holmes, on the poet Shelly. This “literary biography” was written on behalf to “illuminate the author’s work”.
-Izaak Walton, writing in the time of the Restoration (1660) used the form of biography to show his sympathies with the Royalist cause. His biographies were mainly about clerics and those influenced by the church such as the metaphysical poet George Herbert.
-“An Account of the Life of Mr Richard Savage” by Dr Samuel Johnston is known as the “first great biography” for its psychological elements that attempted to explain the inner workings of Savage’s mind through Freudian concepts. Johnston wanted his audience to sympathise with Savage, a convicted murderer and a once personal friend of his.
-The Victorian biography is distinctive for how morality dictated what was included in a work. Many facts were often hidden and only selected material was given out by relations of the biographic subjects, wanting to guard the lives of their famous relatives.
-The Dictionary of National Biography was published in 1885, cataloguing the variety of biographies that had been written during this time.
-Gertrude Stein in her work “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” predicts the growing popularity of autobiography with the opening line “Alice B. Toklas did hers and now everybody will do theirs".
-In the 20th and 21st Centuries, autobiography, memoir and biography continue to surge in popularity especially with the rise of celebrities. Life writing has also been extended to new forms such as blogs and social networking sites. The notion of factual and fictional elements however could be further blurred especially when considering the ideas of “ghost-writers” – a person who writes on behalf of someone else however with the other person receiving sole credit as the author.
-Plutarch’s (50-125AD) The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans is an example of an earlier biography that used letters as a major source of information, for the author to later use his own morals to influence what he chose to include.
-The first biography in the English language was written by Margery Kempe, giving a unique insight into the life of a woman in Medieval Times.
-The first modern biography was written by Richard Holmes, on the poet Shelly. This “literary biography” was written on behalf to “illuminate the author’s work”.
-Izaak Walton, writing in the time of the Restoration (1660) used the form of biography to show his sympathies with the Royalist cause. His biographies were mainly about clerics and those influenced by the church such as the metaphysical poet George Herbert.
-“An Account of the Life of Mr Richard Savage” by Dr Samuel Johnston is known as the “first great biography” for its psychological elements that attempted to explain the inner workings of Savage’s mind through Freudian concepts. Johnston wanted his audience to sympathise with Savage, a convicted murderer and a once personal friend of his.
-The Victorian biography is distinctive for how morality dictated what was included in a work. Many facts were often hidden and only selected material was given out by relations of the biographic subjects, wanting to guard the lives of their famous relatives.
-The Dictionary of National Biography was published in 1885, cataloguing the variety of biographies that had been written during this time.
-Gertrude Stein in her work “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” predicts the growing popularity of autobiography with the opening line “Alice B. Toklas did hers and now everybody will do theirs".
-In the 20th and 21st Centuries, autobiography, memoir and biography continue to surge in popularity especially with the rise of celebrities. Life writing has also been extended to new forms such as blogs and social networking sites. The notion of factual and fictional elements however could be further blurred especially when considering the ideas of “ghost-writers” – a person who writes on behalf of someone else however with the other person receiving sole credit as the author.