Biography

List of contents

General Editor’s Preface; Prefatory note; 1 Some problems of the form 2 Exemplum and anecdote 3 Author and subject 4 Public legends: private lives 5 Truth of fact and truth of fiction; Bibliography; Index

About the author

Alan Shelston

Summary

First published in 1977, this book explores biography in the post-Renaissance period and investigates some of the problems implicit in this literary form. The introduction considers various aspects of biographical theory as expressed by practitioners and critics. The rest of the book is a detailed examination of specific works placed in chronological context — reflecting the author’s assertion that a work of biography is inseparable from the intellectual and cultural precepts of its age. Amongst the works examined are: Plutarch’s Lives, Aubrey’s Brief Lives, Boswell’s Life of Johnson, and Johnson’s Life of Savage. This book will be of interest to students of literature and cultural history.

Product details

• Authors: Shelston, Alan Shelston
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 10.07.2017
• EAN: 9781138283930
• ISBN: 978-1-138-28393-0
• No. of pages: 90
• Series: The Critical Idiom Reissued; The Critical Idiom Reissued
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Biography: general, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General, English, LITERARY CRITICISM / General, Literary studies: general