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Edited version of the National Biography Lecture, 'Biography : The Impossible Art?' delivered at the State Library of Victoria.
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Biography : The Impossible Art?
2007
Z1442535
2007
single work
essay
Inga Clendinnen reflects on the nature of biographical and autographical writing and on the role of story telling for the human species. In conclusion, she asserts the 'transformative magic' of narrative as it admits 'us to experiences not our own, it expands and refreshes our lives. In "real" life we can participate in the inner life of another person only briefly, in moments of love, or grief, or possibly in shared aesthetic delight. In history we do it in pangs - pangs you live for: "now, at this moment, I think I see how it was for them." We pursue it, whether we are reading or writing, in biography and autobiography, hallooing through the thickets. It may only be in art that we can bask in it.'
Last amended 12 Nov 2007 14:52:36
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