1) Biography is a detailed account of a person's life written by someone else, while autobiography is a life account written by the subject themselves. 2) The history of biography began in ancient Greece and Rome, while autobiography emerged in the 17th century. 3) Writing an autobiography presents difficulties as authors must be truthful while avoiding oversharing private details or criticizing living people. Honesty, objectivity, and concise expression are keys to a good autobiography.

1. Welcome you all
By
Mrs. S. Malathi
Assistant Professor of English
V. V. V. College for Women
Virudhunagar

2. LIFE WRITING
BIOGRAPHY
(Life Writing)

3. BIOGRAPHY (LIFE WRITING)
• Is a detailed description of a person’s life.
• Connotes a full account of a person’s life
including an account of the person’s character
and temperament.
• Origin of biography is the instinct of man to
celebrate the memory of someone whom he
admires and to draw inspiration from him
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4. Chief Characteristics
• Biography- is the record of the life of an individual
which deals with the events that would be the life of
a nation.
• Should neither be excessive in praise nor in vile
condemnation of its subject.
• Virtues and the faults of the person should be
presented dispassionately.
• Should be based on facts about the person concened
and on correct intepretation of facts.
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5. Definition
Harold Nicolson – “truthful record of an
individual composed as a work of art”.
Oxford Dictionary – “history of the lives of
individual”
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6. History of Biographies
• Classical period- Biographies were regarded
merely as a subsection of history with a focus
on a particular individual of historical
importance
Eg: Cornelius Nepos’ “Excellentium Imperator
Vitae” (Lives of Outstanding General) in 44
B.C.
Longer and extensive biographies were in Greek
by Plutarch (80 A.D.) and Suetonius (121 A.D.)
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7. History of Biographies
• In the early mid ages (400-1450 A.D.) Monks
and priests wrote biographies about Saints,
Popes and Martyrs.
• During this time, Biographies served as a
vehicle conversion to Christianity.
• Eg: “Life of Charlemagne of Einhard”.
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8. History of Biographies
• Medival Islamic civilization (750-1258) Muslim
biographies of Muhammad were considered
as the beginning of the prophetic biography
tradition.
Eg: Bin sad al Baghadi’s “The Book of the Major
Classes”
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9. History of Biographies
Late Middle ages- biographies of Kings, Knights
and tyrants began to appear in Europe.
Eg: Sir Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte de’ Arthur”-
about King Arthur and his Knights
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10. History of Biography
• Dryden first used the term “Biography” (1683)
• Defined as “the history of particular men’s
lives”
• James Boswell’s “The Life of Samuel Johnson”
(1791) -the first modern biography in English
• James Boswell’s “The Life of Samuel Johnson”
and Johnson’s “Lives of Poets” – greatest
biography in English
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11. History of Autobiography
• In English, “Book of Margery Kemp” is the
earliest autobiography published in the early
15th Century. This book remained in
Manuscript and was not published in 1936.
• 17th Century– “Lord Herbert’s Cherub” and
John Bunyan’s “Grace Abounding to the Chief
of Sinners” (1666).
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12. History of Autobiography
• Notable autobiographers of the 19th Century
are Charles Dickens (incorporated
autobiographical elements in his novels),
Anton Trollope, John Stuart Mill, John Henry
Newman and P.T. Barnum.
• William Hazlitt’s “Liber Amoris” (1823) is
about the painful love-life of the author.
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13. History of Autobiography
• 20th Century – Rudyard Kipling, George
Moore, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi
and Pundit Nehru.
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14. Memoir
• Autobiography focuses on the “life and times”
while Memory is on his/her own feeling and
emotions.
Eg: Julius Caesar’s “Commentaries on the Gallic
wars”.
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15. Diary and Memoir Writers
• In English, 17th Century – Samuel Pepys and
John Evelyn
• 18th Century- Fanny Burney
• 19th Century- Thomas Geneve and Charles
Goreville
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16. Letters
• Letters also have deep human interest and
very great historical importance.
Eg: Dorothy Osborne, Thomas Gray, William
Cowper, Horace Walpole and John Keats
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17. Differences between Biography and Autobiography
Biography Autobiography
Detailed account of person’s life written
by someone else
Is written by the subject themselves
Can be written with or without
permission of the person
is self-written and does not require any
authorization
Contains the second hand knowledge has First hand experience and
information because it was self-written
by the author himself
From a third person’s view and less
intimate
uses first person narratives which creates
an intimate connection between the
writer and the reader
Purpose- to introduce and inform about
a particular person and his life since birth
till death
to express the life experience and
achievements of the narrator by himself
since his birth, he has to conclude it at
particular age
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18. Examples of English Autobiography
• Helen Keller’s - The Story of My Life”
• Jawaharlal Nehru - “An Autobiography”
• M. K. Gandhi – “The Story of My Experiments
with Truth”
• Kamala Das – “My Story”
• Anne Frank – “The Diary of a Young Girl”
• A.P.J. Abdul Kalam – “Wings of Fire”
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19. Difficulties of the Autobiographer
• Hard for a man to write of himself by grating his own
heart to say the truth.
• To recapture with accurate impressions and emotion
of the distant path with entire freedom.
• Great care has to be taken in making any comments
on people who may be alive when the book appears.
• The Author was bound to omit the details of daily life
that are common to everyone, and must concentrate
on what was striking or exceptional
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20. Chief Characteristics
• The truth should be the hallmark of an
autobiography. Facts should not be perused.
• Courage and frankness are the essential
virtues of a good writer of autobiography. The
writer should not be secretive.
• The author should be objective in dealing with
contemporary events and personalities.
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21. Chief Characteristics
• The author should not be verbose in his
description or narration.
• Self-consciousness is the very essence of an
autobiography. A natural facility of expression
and flashes of humour and wit are essential
attributes of an autobiography.
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