Towards a Definition of Postcolonial Biographical Fiction

Tunca, Daria; Ledent, Bénédicte

doi:10.1177/0021989419881234

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Towards a Definition of Postcolonial Biographical Fiction

Tunca, Daria; Ledent, Bénédicte

2020 • In Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 55 (3), p. 335-346

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https://hdl.handle.net/2268/242996

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10.1177/0021989419881234

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Keywords :

biographical fiction; biofiction; fact and fiction; postcolonialism; postmodernism; epistemology; Künstler genre; form

Abstract :

[en] In this introduction to the special issue on "Illuminating Lives: The Biographical Impulse in Postcolonial Literatures", we start by situating the genre of biographical fiction, which has become increasingly popular in postcolonial literatures and beyond, in relation to more "traditional" nonfictional biography. We then examine how postcolonial biofiction might be distinguished from its postmodern avatar, and we tentatively circumscribe some of the tendencies that appear to cluster more systematically in postcolonial biofiction than in other types of writings: the focus on individuals – including artist figures – either forgotten or marginalized in traditional history; the use of the biofictional as a veritable mode of knowledge that allows writers and their critics to explore the philosophical implications of examining human trajectories; and the presence of narrative fragmentation, which often problematizes the possibility of ever fully apprehending an individual life.

Research Center/Unit :

CEREP - Centre d'Enseignement et de Recherche en Études Postcoloniales - ULiège

Disciplines :

Literature

Author, co-author :

Tunca, Daria ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de langues modernes : ling., litt. et trad. > Langue et linguistique anglaises modernes

Ledent, Bénédicte ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de langues modernes : ling., litt. et trad. > Langue et linguistique anglaises modernes

Language :

English

Title :

Towards a Definition of Postcolonial Biographical Fiction

Publication date :

2020

Journal title :

Journal of Commonwealth Literature

ISSN :

0021-9894

eISSN :

1741-6442

Publisher :

SAGE, United Kingdom

Special issue title :

Illuminating Lives: The Biographical Impulse in Postcolonial Literatures

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

335-346

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 10 January 2020

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