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Biographical Fiction: A Reader. Ed. by Michael Lackey, Forum for Modern Language Studies, Volume 53, Issue 3, July 2017, Page 373, https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqx021
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Extract
This collection of reflections, case studies, lectures, interviews and essays addresses the explosion in biographical fiction, or ‘biofiction’, in the twentieth century. It is the first of its kind to examine the historical, ethical and aesthetic implications of this type of writing, where biography and fiction meet with various and enticing effects. Michael Lackey’s judicious editing of the volume allows the contributions contained within it to trace the development of this genre, from Lukács’s early explorations of biofiction as a bastardization of the historical novel through to contemporary analyses of the current state of the genre. The collection heralds the birth of biofiction as a genre in its own right, separate from historical fiction or life writing, and seeks to advocate for its recognition as a discrete literary phenomenon with its own aesthetic parameters. Lackey’s introductory essay deftly sketches out the fault lines of this new mode of writing (without ever reducing it to a single definition), attributing its rise to the innovations of postmodernism that allowed for a new consideration of the literary symbol, permitting the fictionalization of the biographical subject. The strength of this anthology lies in its presentation of many different and important perspectives on the genre. The first section is made up of several authors’ consideration of their own biofictional work; the second contrasts various biofictional approaches to the story of Eliza Lynch; the three succeeding sections of lectures, interviews and essays offer further viewpoints on the genre. Lackey’s choice of contrasting material in this volume allows its reader to weigh up for themselves the status, form and role of the genre, advocating for its importance whilst leaving its definitive boundaries decisively blurred.
