Towards a Poetics of Literary Biography

177 Pages·2015·2.069 MB·English

by  Michael Benton (auth.)

Towards a Poetics of Literary Biography
AlsobyMichaelBenton
TEACHINGLITERATURE9–14(co-authorwithGeoffFox)
SECONDARYWORLDS:LiteratureTeachingandtheVisualArts
STUDIESINTHESPECTATORROLE:Literature,PaintingandPedagogy
LITERARYBIOGRAPHY:AnIntroduction
Towards a Poetics of
Literary Biography
Michael Benton
EmeritusProfessorofEducation,UniversityofSouthampton,UK
©MichaelBenton2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-54957-0
Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis
publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission.
Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted
savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe
Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence
permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency,
SaffronHouse,6–10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS.
Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication
maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages.
Theauthorhasassertedhisrighttobeidentifiedastheauthorofthis
workinaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Firstpublished2015by
PALGRAVEMACMILLAN
PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited,
registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke,
HampshireRG216XS.
PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC,
175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010.
PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies
andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld.
Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates,
theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries.
ISBN 978-1-349-57924-2 ISBN 978-1-137-54958-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137549587
Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully
managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing
processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe
countryoforigin.
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Benton,Michael,1939–
Towardsapoeticsofliterarybiography/MichaelBenton,Emeritus
Professor,UniversityofSouthampton,UK.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1. Authors,English—Biography—Historyandcriticism—Theory,etc.
2. Englishproseliterature—Historyandcriticism—Theory,etc.
3. Biographyasaliteraryform. 4. Authors—Biography—
Authorship. I. Title.
PR756.B56B482015
820.9(cid:2)492—dc23 2015017423
Could a historiographer drive on his history, as a muleteer drives on his
mule, – straight forward –...he might venture to foretell you to an hour
whenheshouldgettohisjourney’send;–butthethingis,morallyspeak-
ing, impossible: For, if he is a man of the least spirit he will have fifty
deviations from a straight line to make with this or that party as he goes
along,whichhecannowaysavoid;...hewillmoreoverhavevarious
Accountstoreconcile:
Anecdotestopickup:
Inscriptionstomakeout:
Storiestoweavein:
Traditionstosift:
Personagestocallupon:
Panegyricstopasteupatthisdoor:
Pasquinadesatthat:–Allwhichboththeman
andhismulearequiteexemptfrom.
Tosumupall;therearearchivesateverystagetobelookedinto,androlls,
records, documents, and endless genealogies, which justice ever and anon
callshimbacktostaythereadingof:Inshort,thereisnoendofit.
LaurenceSterne,TheLifeandOpinionsof
TristramShandy,GentlemanI:14(1760)

Contents
PrefaceandAcknowledgements ix
Introduction:LivesWithoutTheory 1
1 ArtandArtificeinBiography 11
2 PlottingALife 32
3 TheAuthor’sWorks(1):SignsofLife? 49
4 TheAuthor’sWorks(2):OpentoCriticism? 74
5 TheirTimesandOurs 91
6 FramingaPoeticsofLiteraryBiography 118
NotesandReferences 141
SelectBibliography 159
Index 160
vii

Preface and Acknowledgements
My earlier book, Literary Biography: An Introduction (2009), offered
a guide for students and general readers who sought a way in to
the range of literary ‘Lives’ available and to the main issues arising
fromthestudyofthisgenre.Althoughitdrewuponrecentthinking
about narrative, it made no attempt to theorise biography. During
the research and writing, however, the question of whether biogra-
phyhad,orneeded,atheoreticalbasiskeptrecurring.Commentators
seemed to think that a theory of biography was either inappropri-
ate or unnecessary; or, conversely, that its absence could be used as
a means of denigrating a genre they regarded as lightweight, as lit-
tlebetterthandrawing-roomgossipaboutfavouriteauthors.Atbest,
those who discussed theory at all were likely to be thought guilty
ofinflatingcommon-senseprincipleswithunwarrantedsignificance.
Yet,whateverthestancetaken,theuniquecharacterofbiographyas
a form of non-fiction narrative was, with one or two notable excep-
tions, usually neglected. This seemed odd not only because of the
popularity of the genre with everyone in the book business – from
writers and publishers to readers and reviewers – but, more funda-
mentally,becausetheoreticalbattleswerebeingconstantlywagedin
thetwoareasfromwhichbiographicalwritingdrawsitscharacterand
appeal:historiographyandliteraryfiction.
The underlying question remains unresolved. Is a theory of biog-
raphy even possible in a genre that necessarily assimilates into its
historical narrative a wide range of concepts and approaches from
other fields – from social studies, psychology, literary criticism, the
law, moral philosophy, to name the most obvious? Regarded in this
light,askingforatheoryfeelslikethewrongquestion.Butbyshifting
thefocusandexamininghowbiographicalwritingworksonemight
theoriseitspracticesandcontributetodevelopingapoeticsofbiog-
raphy. This, at any rate, is where I started and what has shaped the
presentbook.
TowardsaPoeticsofLiteraryBiographyisacomplementtoitsprede-
cessor.Althoughthesixchaptersmaybereadasfree-standingpieces,
ix