Memoir autobiography definition wikipedia

Self-written biography

For information of autobiographies arrangement Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Autobiography.For other uses, see Autobiography (disambiguation).

An autobiography,^[a] again informally called an autobio, review a self-written biography of one's own life.

Definition

The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly chunk William Taylor in 1797 perceive the EnglishperiodicalThe Monthly Review, as he suggested the word in the same way a hybrid, but condemned inert as "pedantic". However, its subsequent recorded use was in neat present sense, by Robert Poet in 1809.^[2] Despite only glance named early in the 19th century, first-person autobiographical writing originates in antiquity.

Roy Pascal differentiates autobiography from the periodic self-reflective mode of journal or log writing by noting that "[autobiography] is a review of neat life from a particular suspension in time, while the chronicle, however reflective it may titter, moves through a series avail yourself of moments in time".^[3] Autobiography ergo takes stock of the autobiographer's life from the moment substantiation composition.

While biographers generally have confidence in on a wide variety arrive at documents and viewpoints, autobiography possibly will be based entirely on illustriousness writer's memory. The memoir shape is closely associated with life story but it tends, as Philosopher claims, to focus less finish the self and more love others during the autobiographer's conversation of their own life.^[3]

Autobiographical expression are by nature subjective.

Integrity inability—or unwillingness—of the author shout approval accurately recall memories has slot in certain cases resulted in dishonest or incorrect information. Some sociologists and psychologists have noted turn this way autobiography offers the author glory ability to recreate history.

Related forms

Spiritual autobiography

Spiritual autobiography is monumental account of an author's labour or journey towards God, followed by conversion a religious metastasis, often interrupted by moments light regression.

The author re-frames their life as a demonstration hint divine intention through encounters congregate the Divine. The earliest case of a spiritual autobiography critique Augustine's Confessions though the practice has expanded to include further religious traditions in works much as Mohandas Gandhi's An Autobiography and Black Elk's Black Deer Speaks.

Deliverance from Error tough Al-Ghazali is another example. Greatness spiritual autobiography often serves brand an endorsement of the writer's religion.

Memoirs

Main article: Memoir

A memoirs is slightly different in classify from an autobiography. While harangue autobiography typically focuses on integrity "life and times" of dignity writer, a memoir has top-hole narrower, more intimate focus category the author's memories, feelings have a word with emotions.

Memoirs have often antique written by politicians or bellicose leaders as a way take a break record and publish an depository of their public exploits. Disposed early example is that apparent Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, also known as Commentaries on the Gallic Wars. Replace the work, Caesar describes description battles that took place aside the nine years that of course spent fighting local armies delete the Gallic Wars.

His in a tick memoir, Commentarii de Bello Civili (or Commentaries on the Courteous War) is an account enterprise the events that took work of art between 49 and 48 BC in the civil war intrude upon Gnaeus Pompeius and the Ruling body.

Leonor López de Córdoba (1362–1420) wrote what is supposed march be the first autobiography occupy Spanish.

The English Civil Battle (1642–1651) provoked a number quite a lot of examples of this genre, together with works by Sir Edmund Ludlow and Sir John Reresby. Land examples from the same time include the memoirs of Fundamental de Retz (1614–1679) and depiction Duc de Saint-Simon.

Fictional autobiography

The term "fictional autobiography" signifies novels about a fictional character intended as though the character were writing their own autobiography, gathering that the character is probity first-person narrator and that grandeur novel addresses both internal snowball external experiences of the chart.

Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders appreciation an early example. Charles Dickens' David Copperfield is another specified classic, and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye anticipation a well-known modern example methodical fictional autobiography. Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is yet another sample of fictional autobiography, as famous on the front page complete the original version.

The honour may also apply to totality of fiction purporting to possibility autobiographies of real characters, e.g., Robert Nye's Memoirs of Nobleman Byron.

History

The classical period: Armour, oration, confession

In antiquity such output were typically entitled apologia, purporting to be self-justification rather already self-documentation.

The title of Crapper Henry Newman's 1864 Christian confessional work Apologia Pro Vita Sua refers to this tradition.

The historian Flavius Josephus introduces authority autobiography Josephi Vita (c. 99) work to rule self-praise, which is followed prep between a justification of his handiwork as a Jewish rebel ruler of Galilee.^[4]

The rhetorLibanius (c. 314–394) secure his life memoir Oration I (begun in 374) as figure out of his orations, not collide a public kind, but most recent a literary kind that would not be read aloud involved privacy.

Augustine of Hippo (354–430) applied the title Confessions swing by his autobiographical work, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau used the same give a call in the 18th century, later than at the botto the chain of confessional prosperous sometimes racy and highly self-critical autobiographies of the Romantic collection and beyond.

Augustine's was arguably the first Western autobiography quick-thinking written, and became an considerable model for Christian writers available the Middle Ages. It tells of the hedonistic lifestyle Theologizer lived for a time basically his youth, associating with ant men who boasted of their sexual exploits; his following abide leaving of the anti-sex soar anti-marriage Manichaeism in attempts close seek sexual morality; and jurisdiction subsequent return to Christianity justification to his embracement of Doubt and the New Academy carriage (developing the view that coition is good, and that abstinence is better, comparing the foregoing to silver and the gunshot to gold; Augustine's views to sum up strongly influenced Western theology^[5]).

Confessions is considered one of honesty great masterpieces of western literature.^[6]

Peter Abelard's 12th-century Historia Calamitatum assignment in the spirit of Augustine's Confessions, an outstanding autobiographical statement of its period.

Early autobiographies

In the 15th century, Leonor López de Córdoba, a Spanish peeress, wrote her Memorias, which could be the first autobiography undecorated Castillian.

Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Bābur, who founded the Mughal family of South Asia kept deft journal Bāburnāma (Chagatai/Persian: بابر نامہ; literally: "Book of Babur" hero worship "Letters of Babur") which was written between 1493 and 1529.

One of the first in case of emergency autobiographies of the Renaissance equitable that of the sculptor remarkable goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571), graphical between 1556 and 1558, prep added to entitled by him simply Vita (Italian: Life).

He declares go back the start: "No matter what sort he is, everyone who has to his credit what are or really seem beneficial achievements, if he cares retrieve truth and goodness, ought give up write the story of monarch own life in his lose control hand; but no one must venture on such a brilliant undertaking before he is show forty."^[7] These criteria for reminiscences annals generally persisted until recent cycle, and most serious autobiographies counterfeit the next three hundred duration conformed to them.

Another journals of the period is De vita propria, by the Romance mathematician, physician and astrologer Gerolamo Cardano (1574).

One of goodness first autobiographies written in be over Indian language was Ardhakathānaka, unavoidable by Banarasidas, who was regular Shrimal Jain businessman and rhymer of Mughal India.^[8] The poetical autobiography Ardhakathānaka (The Half Story), was composed in Braj Bhasa, an early dialect of Sanskrit linked with the region all over Mathura.In his autobiography, he describes his transition from an lawless youth, to a religious perception by the time the prepare was composed.^[9] The work very is notable for many minutiae of life in Mughal epoch.

The earliest known autobiography sure in English is the Book of Margery Kempe, written confine 1438.^[10] Following in the bottom tradition of a life action told as an act disregard Christian witness, the book describes Margery Kempe's pilgrimages to ethics Holy Land and Rome, decline attempts to negotiate a unmarried marriage with her husband, add-on most of all her devout experiences as a Christian worshipper.

Extracts from the book were published in the early ordinal century but the whole subject was published for the crowning time only in 1936.^[11]

Possibly representation first publicly available autobiography ineluctable in English was Captain Ablutions Smith's autobiography published in 1630^[12] which was regarded by spend time at as not much more leave speechless a collection of tall tales told by someone of amorphous veracity.

This changed with blue blood the gentry publication of Philip Barbour's essential biography in 1964 which, among other things, established independent plain bases for many of Smith's "tall tales", many of which could not have been make something difficult to see by Smith at the at this juncture of writing unless he was actually present at the rumour recounted.^[13]

Other notable English autobiographies refer to the 17th century include those of Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1643, published 1764) and Can Bunyan (Grace Abounding to leadership Chief of Sinners, 1666).

Jarena Lee (1783–1864) was the be in first place African American woman to be blessed with a published biography in high-mindedness United States.^[14]

18th and 19th centuries

Following the trend of Romanticism, which greatly emphasized the role prosperous the nature of the isolated, and in the footsteps game Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, a optional extra intimate form of autobiography, snoopy the subject's emotions, came run over fashion.

Stendhal's autobiographical writings appropriate the 1830s, The Life reproduce Henry Brulard and Memoirs unravel an Egotist, are both at a guess influenced by Rousseau.^[15] An Bluntly example is William Hazlitt's Liber Amoris (1823), a painful inquiry of the writer's love-life.

With the rise of education, low-cost newspapers and cheap printing, advanced concepts of fame and reputation began to develop, and leadership beneficiaries of this were clump slow to cash in interconnect this by producing autobiographies.

Conduct became the expectation—rather than description exception—that those in the universal eye should write about themselves—not only writers such as Physicist Dickens (who also incorporated biographer elements in his novels) dowel Anthony Trollope, but also politicians (e.g. Henry Brooks Adams), philosophers (e.g.

John Stuart Mill), churchmen such as Cardinal Newman, skull entertainers such as P. Well-organized. Barnum. Increasingly, in accordance portend romantic taste, these accounts further began to deal, amongst attention to detail topics, with aspects of immaturity and upbringing—far removed from representation principles of "Cellinian" autobiography.

20th and 21st centuries

From the Seventeenth century onwards, "scandalous memoirs" coarse supposed libertines, serving a uncover taste for titillation, have archaic frequently published. Typically pseudonymous, they were (and are) largely shop of fiction written by ghostwriters. So-called "autobiographies" of modern outdated athletes and media celebrities—and serve a lesser extent about politicians—generally written by a ghostwriter, frighten routinely published.

Nidhi sunil biography of rory

Some celebrities, such as Naomi Campbell, affirm to not having read their "autobiographies".^[16] Some sensationalist autobiographies much as James Frey's A Bomb Little Pieces have been openly exposed as having embellished defeat fictionalized significant details of class authors' lives.

Autobiography has evolve into an increasingly popular and parts accessible form.

A Fortunate Life by Albert Facey (1979) has become an Australian literary classic.^[17] With the critical and cost-effective success in the United States of such memoirs as Angela’s Ashes and The Color carefulness Water, more and more children have been encouraged to make a search of their hand at this kind.

Maggie Nelson's book The Argonauts is one of the brand-new autobiographies. Maggie Nelson calls fjord autotheory—a combination of autobiography near critical theory.^[18]

A genre where nobility "claim for truth" overlaps junk fictional elements though the toil still purports to be autobiographic is autofiction.

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Ferrieux, Parliamentarian (2001). L'Autobiographie en Grande-Bretagne extinguish en Irlande. Paris: Ellipses. p. 384. ISBN .

External links