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Biographical Criticism
Taia Fagerstrom, Alyssa Bolog, Riley Swanson
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The critic seeks to explicate a piece of
literature by utilizing their ideas and knowledge of the author’s life.
Summary
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Samuel Johnson- first to employ extensively Aristotle- influenced others to use the theory Roland Barthes-1968, tried to debunk the
theory of biographical criticism
Key Influences
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Hellenistic Greek times, 18th – 19th century According to author George Alexander
Kennedy, “The works of authors were read as sources of information about their lives, personalities, and interests.”
Influenced heavily by Aristotelian philosophy
Background
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Literature is written by actual people with
actual stories of their own The works might follow actual events in a
writer’s life Biographical info doesn’t change the
understanding of a text as much as it enriches our appreciation
Biographical data should amplify the meaning of the text, not drown it out with irrelevant material
Main points
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Recognition of otherness: there is an author
who is different in personality and background from the reader
Biography: a human life in its course Peripatetic: Aristotelian
Key words
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Works well for political works Practical method that can provide better
understanding Helps widen a reader’s view of a story
Strengths
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It is a case by case theory Caution: avoid equating the work’s content
with the author’s life Can complicate a work or the understanding
of a work Tends to educe art to the level of biography to
make it relative rather than universal
Weaknesses
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http://home.olemiss.edu/~
egjbp/spring97/litcrit.html http://
www.cla.purdue.edu/blackmon/engl360k/critical.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biographical_criticism
http://www2.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Theory02.htm
Resources