Theoretical Discussions of Biography

Hans Renders, Ph.D. (1998), University of Tilburg, is Professor History and Theory of Biography and director of the Biography Institute, both at the University of Groningen. He has published studies on the theme of biography in various international journals.Binne de Haan, is a Ph.D. candidate at the Biography Institute of the University of Groningen. In his thesis he analyses the relationship between biography and historiography, specifically microhistory.

"Ils entendent explicitement contribuer à l’émergence des études biographiques comme nouvelle discipline à part entière [...] En conclusion, il convient de saluer les grands mérites de cet ouvrage fort bien fait" ("They explicitly intend to contribute to the emergence of Biography Studies as a new discipline in its own right [...] In conclusion, we should acknowledge the great merits of this well-made, strong book."Joanny Moulin, Aix-Marseille Université“Theoretical Discussions of Biography is a welcome addition for university courses on the history and theory of history and surveys of historiography. [...] According to Renders and De Haan, a biography preferably studies a specific figure to test generally recognized truths on a society and culture. Renders elaborates this thesis in his article ‘The limits of representativeness. Biography, Life Writing and Microhistory’ and by doing this also brings together some themes from other contributions. This article provides a practical research agenda for the future.”Christoph De Spiegeleer, Free University of Brussels, in: Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis 10(2013)3, p. 115-116.“In its range and compass Theoretical Discussions of Biography illustrates the new compass and depth which Biographical Studies can offer to teachers, students and practitioners.”Nigel Hamilton, Senior Fellow John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston and first President of Biographers International Organization (BIO)“To take issue with Renders, however, is not to discount his perceptive and wide-ranging contributions to an understanding of biography and biographical method. Only a scholar with formidable learning could have assembled an anthology that is so challenging on so many aspects of biography.”Carl Rollyson, Baruch College New York, in: Biography 36(2013)2, p. 392-395.

• Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsForeword Nigel HamiltonNote on the Revised and Augmented EditionNotes on ContributorsAcknowledgements1Introduction: The Challenges of Biography StudiesHans Renders & Binne de HaanSection I: Historiography of Biography Studies 2 Towards Traditions and NationsBinne de Haan & Hans Renders3 Roots of Biography: From Journalism to Pulp to Scholarly Based Non-FictionHans Renders4 The Solace of Doubt? Biographical Methodology after the Short Twentieth Century James WalterSection II: Biography and History5 The Uses of Biography Giovanni Levi6 The Role of the Individual in History. Biographical and Historical Writing in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Sabina Loriga7 Contemporary Values of Life. Biographical Dictionaries in the Nineteenth Century Hans RendersSection III: Biography and Microhistory8 What Is Micro in Microhistory? Matti Peltonen9 Microhistory and the Post-Modern Challenge Richard D. Brown10 The Limits of Representativeness. Biography, Life Writing and Microhistory Hans Renders11 Microhistory: Two or Three Things That I Know about It Carlo GinzburgSection IV: Biography and Life Writing12Biography in Academia and the Critical Frontier in Life Writing: Where Biography Shifts into Life Writing Hans Renders13 The Eclipse of Biography in Life Writing Binne de Haan14 Coming to Terms: Life Writing – from Genre to Critical Practice Marlene KadarAppendices15 Biography Anonymous16 Sex in Biography Ernest Boyd17 The Personal in the Political Biography Hans Renders18 The Biographical Method Hans Renders19Why Genealogy and Biography Are Not Kin Hans Renders20 A Nobel Prize for Biography Nigel HamiltonBibliography