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Internationally acclaimed biographies are almost always written by British or American biographers. But what is the state of the art of biography in other parts of the world? Introduced by Richard Holmes, the volume Different Lives offers a global perspective: seventeen scholars vividly describe the biographical tradition in their countries of interest. They show how biography functions as a public genre, featuring specific societal issues and opinion-making. Indeed, the volume aims to answer the question: how can biography contribute to a better understanding of differences between societies and cultures? Special attention is given to the US, China and the Netherlands. Other contributions are on Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Iran, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and South Africa.
"This book represents a much needed breakdown of the history and current status of Biography Studies throughout the world. Any educator teaching a course in higher education that includes Biography Studies should definitely consider this as a major text for inclusion."
Billy Tooma, film maker and Assistant Professor, Wessex County College
"The rise of biography is the literary event of our time; Hamilton and Renders are its pioneer scholars, and their compelling primer is a must read."
Joanny Moulin, Institut Universitaire de France, on Nigel Hamilton and Hans Renders, in: The ABC of Modern Biography (2018)
See inside the book
"This book represents a much needed breakdown of the history and current status of Biography Studies throughout the world. Any educator teaching a course in higher education that includes Biography Studies should definitely consider this as a major text for inclusion."
Billy Tooma, film maker and Assistant Professor, Wessex County College
"The rise of biography is the literary event of our time; Hamilton and Renders are its pioneer scholars, and their compelling primer is a must read."
Joanny Moulin, Institut Universitaire de France, on Nigel Hamilton and Hans Renders, in: The ABC of Modern Biography (2018)
See inside the book
Price: $192.00
Pages: 278
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Series: Biography Studies
Publication Date:
11 June 2020
ISBN: 9789004428126
Format: Hardcover
"This collection should be on the shelf of everyone interested in Biographies Studies. [....]. These essays are not, to be sure, dry and stuffy. There is real passion within each and every one of them, which is indicative of the drive their authors have in wanting to create something that is both an educational tool and a compelling read. Different Lives is a welcomed, and much needed, addition to Biography Studies". Billy Tooma.
"The essays in Different Lives are salient and compelling exactly because of constraints and the variety of forms in which they are expressed socially, culturally, and eventually in the story of a life."
- Marlene Kadar in Netherlandic Studies, 41.1 (2021): 91-96.
"Different Lives is a worthy opening to a series that promises to advance understanding of the cultural, political, and aesthetic stakes of biography, within and beyond national contexts: researchers in biography will eagerly await future volumes in the series."
- Caitríona Ní Dhúill in Biography, Volume 44, Number 4, 2021, pp. 621-626.
"The essays in Different Lives are salient and compelling exactly because of constraints and the variety of forms in which they are expressed socially, culturally, and eventually in the story of a life."
- Marlene Kadar in Netherlandic Studies, 41.1 (2021): 91-96.
"Different Lives is a worthy opening to a series that promises to advance understanding of the cultural, political, and aesthetic stakes of biography, within and beyond national contexts: researchers in biography will eagerly await future volumes in the series."
- Caitríona Ní Dhúill in Biography, Volume 44, Number 4, 2021, pp. 621-626.
Hans Renders is Professor in History and Theory of Biography at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He has written two biographies and has published on biographical theory in various international journals. He is the series editor of Biography Studies at Brill.
David Veltman works at the Biography Institute (University of Groningen) on a PhD thesis about the artist Felix de Boeck. David has an MA in modern Dutch literature. He has published before in Biography and Australian Journal of Biography and History.
David Veltman works at the Biography Institute (University of Groningen) on a PhD thesis about the artist Felix de Boeck. David has an MA in modern Dutch literature. He has published before in Biography and Australian Journal of Biography and History.