Definition of biography

Definition of biography

A biography is the story of a person narrated in a more or less short and coherent text from birth to death, providing details of facts, achievements, failures and other significant aspects that want to distinguish themselves from the individual in question. The word comes from the Greek and means “to write life”.

Mainly, there are two types of biographies: one told by a third person with a narrative style that tries to record the most relevant data on the evolution of the protagonist and one narrated in first person by the protagonist himself, telling his story from his perspective , often with more personal details and anecdotes; the latter is classified as “autobiography”. In the latter case, it sometimes takes the form of a personal diary or adventure diary, chronicling what the author experienced. Another case would be memoirs, which are a detailed review of the author’s life, often when the author is already nearing old age.

There are also other classifications or subgenres: we speak of an authorized biography when it is subject to the approval of the protagonist and, therefore, sometimes suffers from censorship or restrictions; while an unauthorized biography is an author’s free take on the character and often goes against the wishes of the protagonist. Unauthorized biographies are part of the news heritage of many investigative reporters, particularly when reporting high-profile public figures, such as political or cultural leaders.

There are other genres that are sometimes confused or mixed with biography. For example, the testimonial account of a particular fact or event, or the epistolary, which collects letters written between two or more people over a period of time. Travel books can also be biographical. Discussions are postulated among specialists when they consider some works as true biographies; This is what happens, for example, with some historical novels, where the life of a person in the story is detailed, where the details of everyday activity are mixed up, within the framework of his time and context. Sometimes these novels incorporate fictional or fictional content which makes it difficult to consider them as biographical works.

Similarly, there are cases of false autobiographies, for example, when a certain character reinvents his story according to what he would like to be or other alternatives, and even the fictional biography can be told, i.e. the story of a character who is not really existed. This very literary genre has given rise to multiple interpretations, especially when the “created” historical character whose biography is referred to is mentioned in more than one of the author’s works, or is even continued by authors other than the original.

On the other hand, the birth of the seventh art has caused countless versions of biography that have been filmed for the cinema or, to a lesser extent, for television or home video. Although in general it is the great historical figures who have been brought to the screen in biographical form, from a novel or other sources, in modern times we can see biographies of artists, athletes or leaders of another nature, whose lives are scene with a massive arrival from the media.

Finally, and in this same story, it is worth asking whether current reality shows do not actually constitute a somewhat particular variant of biographies, in which the daily life activity of a famous or unknown person is broadcast on the screens of others. homes …