Letter: We want heroes and so we want biography
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Letter: We want heroes and so
Ben Pimlott ("Cultivating a deliberate deceit", 23 November) says "many scholars look down on biographies", and that however popular a form it is - indeed because it is so popular - academics are suspicious of it. But now, he says, "one enterprising university has just started an MA in biography".
In the English department at the University of York, we've been running a successful MA on "Life-writing: autobiography and biography" for two years. And at an Anglo-French biography conference organised by the British Council in Paris last week, the biographer Richard Holmes suggested, to applause, the foundation of a Chair in European biography.
These days, biography is taken seriously, as well as read hugely. This isn't just because we're all gossips and voyeurs at heart. We have a passionate interest in what Pimlott calls "the notion of a model life". More than ever before, we want heroes and heroines, we want life-stories, and we want to know how individuals reflect their times. Biography is more than entertainment: it matters to us.
Hermione Lee
Weeton, Leeds
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments