Biographical Passages : Essays on Victorian and Modernist Biography

by Lago, Mary; Hughes, Linda K.; Law, Joe

• ISBN13: 9780826212566
• ISBN10: 0826212565
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of Missouri Pr

Summary

In the last two decades, biographies have grown in popularity, often eclipsing the novel in sales and accessibility to specialists and the general public alike. Widely regarded as a distinctly modern form, today's biographies are marked by their willingness to "tell all" or to pursue overt political aims. But how new, how unprecedented, are today's biographies?Biographical Passagesaddresses this important question by juxtaposing Victorian and Modernist biography from diverse perspectives. Challenging the view that modern biographies are radically different from the straitlaced and ponderous Victorian tomes, Joe Law and Linda K. Hughes illustrate that continuities in biographical practice do exist, proving, for example, that the "tell-all" biography is not the exclusive preserve of the twentieth century. Enlisting the talents of such acclaimed biographers and scholars as P. N. Furbank and Michael Holroyd,Biographical Passagesis a true exploration of the art and craft of biography. Essays on the usefulness of biography in approaching late Victorian artists provide a detailed scrutiny of modern biography across disciplines and from a rich array of vantage points. Additional essays on E. M. Forster and the relations between England and India analyze the role of cultural difference in biography. Law and Hughes concludeBiographical Passageswith an epilogue in tribute to a scholar whose work is closely connected to all the essays in this collection-Mary Lago. Widely known for her important contributions to studies of late Victorian and Edwardian literature, art, music, and Anglo-Indian relations, Lago is the author of biographies of Christina Herringham and E. M. Forster.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
``And What Have You Done?'' Victorian Biography Today	1	(17)
Joe Law
Linda K. Hughes
The Craftlike Nature of Biography	18	(10)
P. N. Furbank
``On the Border-line between the New and the Old'' Bloomsbury, Biography, and Gerald Brenan	28	(16)
Michael Holroyd
``A Kind of Voyage'' E. M. Forster and Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd	44	(21)
Mary C. Francis
Victorian Artists' Family Biographies Domestic Authority, the Marketplace, and the Artist's Body	65	(44)
Julie F. Codell
Infinite Rest Sleep, Death, and Awakening in the Late Works of Edward Burne-Jones	109	(18)
Debra N. Mancoff
The Road from Poodur A Passage to America	127	(53)
Anantha Sudhaker Babbili
Essaying Biography The Career of Mary Lago	180	(13)
Linda K. Hughes
Joe Law
Publications	193	(6)
Mary Lago
About the Contributors	199	(2)
Index	201