Biography
Related: autobiography - life - literature
If a German philosopher dons a Nazi uniform in 1933 and endorses Hitler, you have to be extremely subtle, or extremely stupid, to conclude that this event sheds no light on his ideas. And if the same philosopher has an adulterous love affair with a Jewish student, then you must be either exceptionally high-minded or totally unconscious in order to argue that their relationship should not interest people who study his work, or hers. --Robert Fulford via The National Post, June 8, 2002)
Definition
Biography (from the Greek words bios meaning life, and graphein meaning write) is a genre of literature and other forms of media like film, based on the written accounts of individual lives. While a biography may focus on a subject of fiction or non-fiction, the term is usually in reference to non-fiction. As opposed to a profile or curriculum vitae, a biography develops complex insight and highlights different textures of personality including intimate details of experiences. A biography is more than a list of facts like birth, education, work, relationships and death. It also delves into the emotions of experiencing such events. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biography [Apr 2005]Thomas Couture on cult of personality
Asked by a publisher to do an autobiography, Thomas Couture (1815-1879) responded with words that are even more appropriate today:
"Biography is the exaltation of personality --- and personality is the scourge of our time."--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Couture [Apr 2005]
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