relating to or containing an account of someone's life
From Greek 'bios' meaning 'life' + 'graphikos' meaning 'of writing'
Biographical literally means 'life-writing' - it's the art of capturing someone's entire existence in words!
Biography has historically prioritized (elite) male subjects; women's lives were written as wives/mothers/muses rather than protagonists. Canon-building favored men's 'great lives' while women's lived experience was relegated to memoir or erasure.
Actively seek and center biographical narratives of women, LGBTQ+ people, and underrepresented groups. Recognize that traditional biography genre has structural biases in whose lives are deemed worthy of record.
Feminist biography scholars like Shari Benstock and Bella Brodzki have reclaimed women's life-writing, showing how biography and autobiography challenge male literary canon.
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