Analysis of The Biographer's Tale
In the wake of contemporary critical theory, the fundamental propositions on which biography rests (in particular, the notions of identity, history and life writing) have been challenged. According to Catherine Peters, biography is “a traditional, rather old-fashioned form, evolving slowly rather than by great imaginative leaps” (p.44).
Therefore, these challenges to biography are most often dramatised within fiction, rather than in biography itself. However, this fictional exploration is not divorced from the theoretical implications of biography. The Biographer’s Tale (2001) is constructed in dialogue with Victorian biography and so considers the impact of recent theoretical developments on Nineteenth century conceptions of biography. Thus, in Byatt’s fiction, text and theory combine to illuminate issues surrounding the relationship between history, fiction and life writing, which coalesce around the issue of identity. My analysis of The Biographer’s Tale will explore how this neo-Victorian text adopts a theoretical perspective to interpret, and challenge, both nineteenth-century conceptions of biography and the theoretical perspective itself.
John Keener identifies “biographic metafiction” as a subgenre of Linda Hutcheon’s “historiographic metafiction”.[1] Keener applies this term to novels that not only adopt the methods of biography but also self-consciously problematise it. This self-consciousness overtly manifests itself in the presence of a biographer-hero within these novels (p.198). According to Keener, biographer-hero novels “combine [biographical] practice with purpose, [in them] we find not only an embedded or implicit biographical narrative but also a framing narrative of t...
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Its most known process of generating electricity would be movement of air through wind turbines. Wind power has two parts, mechanical and electrical systems. Mechanical systems are low speed and are used for mechanical tasks such as pumping water or grinding grain. Electrical systems are high speed and are used to generate electricity to power homes or schools. Many people feel that wind farms full of turbines, are aesthetically unpleasing, but wind power is a clean energy source and does not generate greenhouse gas emissions. It is a very abundant resource throughout the United States. Wind power is simple, relatively cheap, and low maintenance (Sambu). Wind power is again, free and very abundant so no matter how much we use now, we will still obtain enough in the
Part One, “The Formation of Eurasian States” introduces the three major powers in central Eurasia, China, Russia, and the Zunghar State. Perdue describes central Eurasia as an “unbounded” land stretching from “the Ukrainian steppes in the west to the shores of the Pacific in the east, from the southern edge of the Siberian forests to the Tibetan plateau” populated by nomadic tribes who had no clearly defined national boundaries . Historical sources concerning Central Asia people in Central Eurasia are scares due to the lack of writing ability in the vast majority of the nomadic population. Writers from the “civilized” world such as China described these people as exclusively nomadic and “universally greedy, primitive, and poor” . Despite the lack of historical records in the area, the area has historically played an important role in linking the eastern civilizations to the western civilizations, which played a major part in global trade up until the sixteenth century . Although the nomads of the steppes in Central Eurasia has long been accused of constant raiding of “civilized” settlements such as in north western parts of China, Sechin Jagchid argues that peace was possible if the nomad’s needs were satisfied by trade, so that the they did not have to take supplies by force in order...
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Skillfully mixing criticism and biography, Klinkowitz demonstrates how Barthelmeís life influenced his work; how his time in the army as a service newspaper writer, and later as a publicity writer and editor prepared him to handle ìwords and images as blocks of material rather than as purveyors of conceptions ...î[3]But the use of autobiographical material makes a point beyond that relevant to critical biography.Klinkowitz argues that a consistent thematic in Barthelmeís writing was life as text--and therefore text as some sort of incarnation of life.As Klinkowitz writes of his meeting with Barthelme in the village, Barthelme ìwas firmly inside his text.
‘The woman’ of the poem has no specific identity and this helps us even further see the situation in which the woman is experiencing, the lost of one’s identity. Questions start to be raised and we wonder if Harwood uses this character to portray her views of every woman which goes into the stage of motherhood, where much sacrifice is needed one being the identity that was present in society prior to children.
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Usually, biographies describe the experiences or a specific incident in a person’s life. During the first colonies, women were unable to read or even spell therefore they were not capable of writing her own stories. Suffrage women had the opportunity to share their stories through their writings on their journals. “There are as well impressive biographies, often by relatives, describing the individual experiences of suffrage women, though in the more benighted versions of these women emerge as dehumanized saints”(3). During this era many people were able to document their experiences and stories through portraits and paintings but as it was stated in the book “founding sisters had neither the time nor the money nor the ego to sit for their
In the story, the narrator is forced to tell her story through a secret correspondence with the reader since her husband forbids her to write and would “meet [her] with heavy opposition” should he find her doing so (390). The woman’s secret correspondence with the reader is yet another example of the limited viewpoint, for no one else is ever around to comment or give their thoughts on what is occurring. The limited perspective the reader sees through her narration plays an essential role in helping the reader understand the theme by showing the woman’s place in the world. At ...
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There are many different sources of energy that are naturally available throughout the world in different forms. There are two types of energy: renewable and non-renewable. Non-renewable is made from fossil fuels; which can include oil, coal and wood. They are non-renewable because they are not regenerated immediately, and it can take between 100-100,000 years to make a fossil fuel. They are important because they produce constant energy throughout the world. This is because of their high availability. The problem with non-renewable energy is that, when burned, they release harmful greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Especially when the world, as a whole, is using too much too quickly; and therefore the earth cannot replenish the fuels naturally or quickly enough. Renewable sources of energy are obtained from different natural sources. A benefit about this kind of energy is that it can be replaced and it is sustainable. Renewable energy is important because it is used significantly in electricity generation and heating. It is also important because it can be replenished, and therefore it is better for the environment.