Literary Analysis:
Biographical Perspective
Life Experiences
Influence Writing
Catherine Wishart
Adjunct Instructor
How Common is Biographical Context
in Writing?
• All authors write in a biographical context
• The goal of a biographical criticism is
understanding why the author wrote what he
or she wrote
• This includes pointing out how biographical
circumstances contributed to the creation of
parts of the text—biographical readings often
resemble non-theoretical psychological
readings
Influences on Biographical Context
• Ideology: a system of beliefs that governs a
group’s actions, its view of reality, and its
assumptions about what is “normal” and
“natural.” Ideology can be communicated by
discourse.
– Some authors ideologically agree with the power
elites of society (agree with the societal norm)
– Other authors ideologically disagree with the
power elite (what to initiate change)
– Life experiences often influence their ideologies.
History of Biographical Criticism
• Samuel Johnson (1779) researched poets and
utilized truthful accounts of their lives to
understand nuances in their writings.
• Since Johnson, biographical criticism has
become more and more popular.
Important Questions for Biographical
Criticism
• Understanding the Author:
– What facts about the author’s life suggest ideas
in the work? Did anything that happened to the
author effect his or her themes or choice of
subject matter?
– What was/is the author’s world view? Which of
the author’s beliefs seem reflected in their story?
– What commentary on the story did the author
make? Does it point to ideas in the story?
Important Questions
• Understanding the Author’s World:
– What world view was typical of the author’s
time? What aspects of this world view seem
prevalent in this story or character? Does the
author seem to accept or rebel against this world
view?
– How did people respond to the author’s works
and life?
– What ideas did people find in the author’s works
and life?
Adding Perspective
• The social structure or way of life of the
author’s time period gives greater depth
from which to draw conclusions and better
understand the story.
• Discovering details about the author’s life
and times also provides a way to further
develop ideas about interpreting the story.
Example of an Author’s Life
Experiences Shaping His Writing
• Tim O’Brien is the author of The Things They
Carried
• Facts about O’Brien:
– Born October 1, 1946
– Grew up in Minnesota
– Political views were against the Vietnam War
– Drafted into Army in 1968
– Served from 1968 to 1970 as an infantry foot
soldier
Sketch of the Book
• The story takes place in Vietnam.
• It details the burdens that infantry soldiers
carried, both physically and mentally.
• In an extended novel released in 1990,
O’Brien gives the narrator his own name.
• The story is fictional even though it sounds
true (verisimilitude).
• The story paints a devastating picture of the
Vietnam War.
One Critic’s Biographical Analysis
• “One of the most fascinating things about
O’Brien’s story was his own reflection on the
art of telling a story, and specifically, the art
of telling a war story. We are continuously
reminded that the story is fiction, but it is
difficult to separate Tim the narrator and Tim
O’Brien the author.”
Biographical Criticism
Checklist of Questions
1. What influences – persons, ideas, movements, events –
evident in the writer’s life does the work reflect?
2. To what extent are the events described in the work a direct
transfer of what happened in the author’s actual life?
3. What modifications of the actual events has the writer
made in the literary work? For what possible purposes?
4. Why might the writer have altered his or her actual
experience in the literary work?
5. What are the effects of the differences between actual
events and their literary transformation in the work?
6. What has the author revealed in the work about his or her
characteristic modes of thought, perceptions, or emotion?
What place does the work have in the author’s literary
development and career?
Sources
• http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/10
6643/Critical-Perspectives-Biographical-
Criticism-Final-Submission
• www.cedarville.edu/departments/writingcent
er/.../litanalysis.ppt
• DiYanni, Robert. Literature Approaches to
Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 2nd ed. Boston:
McGraw Hill, 2008. Print.