Biography, vol. 24, no. 2 (2001)

Editor’s Introduction, p. iii

ARTICLES

Richard Freadman

Genius and the Dutiful Life: Ray Monk’s Wittgenstein and the Biography of the Philosopher as Sub-Genre, p. 301

This article argues for the existence of the “biography of the philosopher” as a sub-genre of life writing, and identifies a number of coordinates that assist in characterizing the writing, reading, and interpretation of examples of this sub-genre. Exemplifying the need to consider biographies of philosophers on a case-by-case basis, a reading of Ray Monk’s biography of Wittgenstein in light of these coordinates reveals a resemblance between Wittgenstein’s later thought and Monk’s biographical methodology.

Jacqueline Vansant

Political Memoirs and Negative Rhetoric: Kurt Waldheim’s In the Eye of the Storm and Im Glaspalast der Weltpolitik, p. 343

This article explores the influence of audience in shaping the political memoir, and examines the memoir as a rhetorical act. A comparison of the English and German versions of Waldheim’s memoirs suggests a concern for differing audience perceptions of National Socialism, and an analysis of Waldheim’s rhetorical stances and narrative strategies expose a negative rhetoric which simplifies historical complexities.

Carl Rollyson

Biography Theory and Method: The Case of Samuel Johnson, p. 363

In the Life of Savage, Samuel Johnson exemplifies his enlightenment biographical method, which stresses the biographer’s effort to overcome the differences between himself and his subject. Contrary to romantic doctrine, Johnson’s theory values the biographer’s empathy for, rather than identification with, the biographee.

REVIEWS

The Wilkomirski Affair: A Study in Biographical Truth, by Stefan Mächler, p. 369
Reviewed by Jeremy D. Popkin

Damaged Identities: Narrative Repair, by Hilde Lindemann Nelson, p. 372
Reviewed by Alan Radley

Greek Biography and Panegyric in Late Antiquity, edited by Thomas Hägg and Philip Rousseau, p. 375
Reviewed by Daniel H. Garrison

Augustine’s Invention of the Inner Self: The Legacy of a Christian Platonist, by Phillip Cary, p. 377
Reviewed by Roland J. Teske, S.J.

Writing Faith: Text, Sign, and History in the Miracles of Sainte Foy, by Kathleen Ashley and Pamela Sheingorn, p. 379
Reviewed by Kirsten Wolf

A Bishop’s Tale: Mathias Hovius Among His Flock in Seventeenth-Century Flanders, by Craig Harline and Eddy Put, p. 382
Reviewed by Edward Peters

Being Interior: Autobiography and the Contradictions of Modernity in Seventeenth-Century France, by Nicholas D. Paige, p. 387
Reviewed by Edward Tilson

Caught Between Worlds: British Captivity Narratives in Fact and Fiction, by Joe Snader, p. 391
Reviewed by Elizabeth Denlinger

The ‘Scandalous Memoirists’: Constantia Phillips, Laetitia Pilkington and the Shame of ‘publick fame’ by Lynda M. Thompson, p. 394
Reviewed by Caroline Breashears

Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley: Writing Lives, edited by Helen M. Buss, D. L. MacDonald, and Ann McWhir, p. 397
Reviewed by Audrey Bilger

The Way We Lived Then, by Jean Robin, p. 401
Reviewed by Rosemary Mitchell

Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans, by Joyce Appleby, p. 404
Reviewed by Paul Gilje

Sentimental Confessions: Spiritual Narratives of Nineteenth-Century African American Women, by Joycelyn Moody, p. 406
Reviewed by Lucille P. Fultz

REVIEWED ELSEWHERE, p. 410
Excerpts from recent reviews of biographies, autobiographies, and other works of interest

LIFELINES, p. 450
Upcoming events, calls for papers, and news from the field

CONTRIBUTORS, p. 452