Del 0 - Biofiction Studies

Ireland, the Irish, and the Rise of Biofiction

Häftad, Engelska, 2023

AvMichael Lackey,Lucia Boldrini

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Biofiction is literature that names its protagonist after an actual historical figure, and it has become a dominant literary form over the last 35 years. What has not yet been scholarly acknowledged or documented is that the Irish played a crucial role in the origins, evolution, rise, and now dominance of biofiction. Michael Lackey first examines the groundbreaking biofictions that Oscar Wilde and George Moore authored in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as the best biographical novels about Wilde (by Peter Ackroyd and Colm Tóibín). He then focuses on contemporary authors of biofiction (Sabina Murray, Graham Shelby, Anne Enright, and Mario Vargas Llosa, who Lackey has interviewed for this work) who use the lives of prominent Irish figures (Roger Casement and Eliza Lynch) to explore the challenges of seizing and securing a life-promoting form of agency within a colonial and patriarchal context. In conclusion, Lackey briefly analyzes biographical novels by Peter Carey and Mary Morrissy to illustrate why agency is of central importance for the Irish, and why that focus mandated the rise of the biographical novel, a literary form that mirrors the constructed Irish interior.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2023-06-29
Mått148 x 226 x 18 mm
Vikt460 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieBiofiction Studies
Antal sidor288
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9781501378515

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AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Ireland, the Irish, and BiofictionI. Historical Context for the Rise of Biofiction1. Oscar Wilde and the Invention of a Life-Creating Fiction2. George Moore’s The Brook Kerith and the Scandal of the Biographical NovelII. Irish Figures as Biofictional Symbols3. Roger Casement and the Transnational Origins of “Irishness” 4. Traumatized Agency in Eliza Lynch Biographical NovelsIII. Theoretical Reflections about Biofiction5. A Poetics of the Biographical Novel: Agency, History, Fiction6. Why Names Matter: Concluding Reflections about Autonomy and BiofictionAppendix: Interview with Mario Vargas LlosaBibliographyIndex

A leading scholar of biofiction studies, Lackey here offers a comprehensive history of the rise of biofiction, its aesthetics, and its sociopolitical implications. His marvelous exploration of Irish authors’ foundational contributions to biographical fiction carefully differentiates biographical from historical fiction, tracing the wider significance of that distinction through the subject novels’ historical contexts. Lackey deftly intersperses the relevant history of critical, philosophical, and literary meditations on the nature of art with nuanced, illuminating readings of major examples of the genre. As wide-ranging and inclusive as it is focused and insightful, this study not only deepens our understanding of biofiction, but also opens new and exciting directions in the field of Irish Studies.