Biography
A detailed account of a person's life and experience.
A biography is a detailed description or account of a person's life, portraying their experience of life events beyond basic facts. It emerged as an independent genre in the 18th century and reached its contemporary form at the turn of the 20th century, encompassing works in diverse media from literature to film.
- earliest_known_examples
- 26th century BC (Egyptian tomb inscriptions)
- earliest_literary_genre
- Biography
- key_early_collection
- Plutarch's Parallel Lives (c. 80 AD)
- notable_medieval_example
- Einhard's life of Charlemagne
Lore & Background
By the late Middle Ages, biographies of kings, knights, and tyrants appeared, most famously Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. The American biography followed the English model, incorporating Thomas Carlyle's view that biography was part of history, and developed a didactic form seeking to shape national character.
Reader's Guide
Boswell covered the entirety of Johnson's life through archival study, eye-witness accounts, and interviews, producing a robust narrative with honest depiction of all aspects of Johnson's life and character—a formula that serves as the basis of biographical literature to this day. Biographical writing generally stagnated during the 19th century, often reverting to hagiographical methods, though a distinction between mass biography and literary biography began to form by mid-century. The number of biographies in print experienced rapid growth thanks to an expanding reading public and affordable paperback editions. Autobiographies became more popular with the rise of education and cheap printing, as modern concepts of fame and celebrity developed. The genre continues to encompass authorized biographies (written with the subject's permission) and unauthorized biographies (written without it), as well as autobiographies written by the subject, sometimes with a collaborator or ghostwriter.
Did You Know?
- The earliest biographical texts are from the 26th century BC, from Egyptian tomb inscriptions.
- Plutarch's Parallel Lives, published about 80 AD, pairs famous Greeks with famous Romans.
- An authorized biography is written with the permission and cooperation of the subject or their heirs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Biography?
Biography is a literary form devoted to telling the full story of a real person's life, capturing how events were actually experienced rather than merely listing dates and achievements. It holds the distinction of being the earliest recognized literary genre, with roots stretching back to 26th century BC Egyptian tomb inscriptions.
What are Biography's powers/role?
Biography's core function is to render one individual's life in rich, narrative detail, going well beyond basic facts to convey lived experience. It operates across a wide range of media, from written literature to film, adapting its storytelling tools to each platform.
How does Biography's story end?
Biography solidified into its modern, independent form around the turn of the 20th century after first emerging as a distinct genre in the 18th century. It has no fixed ending, continuing to evolve as new storytelling mediums and cultural perspectives reshape how lives are told.
Why is Biography important?
As the earliest known literary genre, Biography established the foundational principle of following a single person's journey through time, a narrative structure that underpins much of later storytelling. Landmark works such as Plutarch's Parallel Lives (c. 80 AD) and Einhard's account of Charlemagne set enduring models for how cultures remember and interpret their key figures.
What are Biography's earliest known appearances?
The oldest surviving examples are Egyptian tomb inscriptions dating to the 26th century BC, making Biography the first literary form humanity produced. In the classical and medieval eras, collections like Plutarch's Parallel Lives and Einhard's life of Charlemagne became the genre's most celebrated early milestones.
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