The biographical turn and the case for historical biography

Abstract

AbstractBiography has long been ostracized from the academy while remaining a popular genre among the general public. Recent heightened interest in biography among academics has some speaking of a biographical turn, but in Canada historical biography continues to be undervalued. Having not found a home in any one discipline, Biography Studies is emerging as an independent discipline, especially in the Netherlands. This Dutch School of biography is moving biography studies away from the less scholarly life writing tradition and towards history by encouraging its practitioners to utilize an approach adapted from microhistory. In response to these developments, this article contends that the discipline of history should take concrete steps to strengthen the subfield of Historical Biography. It further argues that works written in this tradition ought to chart a middle path between those studies that place undue focus on either the individual life or on broader historical questions. By employing a critical narrative approach, works of Historical Biography will prove valuable to both academic and non‐academic readers alike.