I just wonder how interesting a biography could be without the inclusion of history.
I think most biographies are entirely historical i.e. the lives of real-life,
important and famous people; and well, even if their subjects are living (bio),
their lives are still chronoligically narrated in retrospect - as a history. call it
personal, but a history nonetheless. Now, about the epic, I think you've hit the
nail on its head but somehow bent it by landing the hammer too hard; some epics
could indeed be seen as biographies of nations - Pan Tadeuz, Shahnameh, the Aeneid -
but their subject matter is not limited to a 'body of legend'. In a modernist
example, in H.D's 'Trilogy', you'll find neither nationalism nor an acceptance of
mythology - but plenty of personal history and private spirituality. Winning of the
West may or may not be a 'proper' subject for a nationalist American epic, but i
doubt it'd make for a particularly interesting one wihtin the postmodern - Darn it
partner, I've got the news on the TV if I'm into watching Amercian cowboys bomb and
invade the rest of the planet; I don't need poetry for that.
Ali
---- Original Message ----
From: Erminia Passannanti
Date: Tue 11/13/01 5:12
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: biographical poetry - you mean History?
Therefore: The Epics of America (not the biography of America)....
"or else narrative poetry".
From the Merriam - Webster Dictionary
Epics: a series of events or body of legend or tradition thought to form
the proper subject of an epic <the winning of the West was a great American
epic>
Have I expandend my point?
with love, Erminia
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