Different Lives Global Perspectives on Biography in Public Cultures and Societies

Biography Conference September 19-21, 2018 biography in their own country. They will demonstrate how biography functions as a truly public genre, featuring specific societal issues and the way biography About the Conference shapes public opinion in specific cultural This conference was made possible by contributions from: backgrounds. “Different Lives: Global Perspectives on Biography in Public Cultures and All featured speakers will present from a Societies” is an international conference wealth of different perspectives, contribu- organized by the Biography Institute, ting to the discussion in a mix of panels, the Biography Society and Biographer’s roundtables, and public discussions. Ri- International Organization. It will take chard Holmes (UK) will provide the key- place from September 19 to 21, 2018, in note lecture for this conference. We will Groningen, the Netherlands. Over the also hear from Evgeniya Petrova (Russia), course of three days, biographers and Joanny Moulin (France), Elsbeth Etty GUP other experts are going to take a look (the Netherlands), Phuong Ngoc Nguyen beyond their own borders and delve (Vietnam), Lindie Koorts (South Africa), deeper into the question of how the art Daniel Meister (Canada), Doug Munro of biography is practiced in other parts of (New Zealand), María Jesús González the world. The focus will be on the- (Spain), Sahar Vahdati Hosseinian (Iran), mes such as the political impact of the Yannick Gouchan (Italy), and Étienne biography, censorship, the history of the Naveau (Indonesia). Carl Rollyson (US) book, and the critical reception of bio- will provide a lecture and Nigel Hamilton graphy. The goal is to learn more about will host a masterclass for young bio- how biography can contribute to a better graphers working on their first books. understanding of differences between so- Additionally, he has agreed to open the cieties and cultures. How can biographers conference with a lecture titled "Truth, from different parts of the world learn Lies, and Fake Truth: The Future of Bio- from each other? Speakers from all over graphy." The conference will open with a the world will inform us about the his- reception on Wednesday, and close with a tory and the state of the art concerning conference dinner on Friday. Biography Conference September 19-21, 2018

september 19 1230 – 1600 Conference Program Masterclass by Nigel Hamilton

1630 – 1730 The main conference venue is Opening Lecture by Nigel Hamilton the Doopsgezinde Kerk Truth, Lies and Fake Truth. (Oude Boteringestraat 33) The Future of Biography. with word of welcome by Frans Zwarts

1730 – 1830 Reception Offered by Groningen Congres Bureau

september 20 september 21 1000 1015 – 1115 1400 – 1430 Conference Opening 1430 – 1600 Panel 3 chaired by Madelon Franssen Interview by Hans Renders and Joanny Moulin Roundtable Discussion with John A. Farrell Sahar Vahdati Hosseinian (Iran) with the winner of Dutch Biography Prize Topics: political impact of biography, insti- Doug Munro (Australia) 30 45 1015 – 1115 tutions and status of the biographer, the María Jesús González (Spain) 14 – 15 Panel 1 chaired by David Veltman biopic, categories of biography, biography Panel 4 chaired by Nigel Hamilton 30 00 Carl Rollyson (US) and orality. 11 – 13 Lindie Koorts (South Africa) Evgeniya Petrova (Russia) Lindie Koorts (South Africa) Roundtable Discussion with Patrick Di Mascio Yannick Gouchan (Italy) Joanny Moulin (France) Doug Munro (New Zealand) Topics: biography and censorship, the critical Étienne Naveau (Indonesia) María Jesús González (Spain) reception of the biography, biography and Wilhelm Hemecker (Austria) 1130 – 1230 Yannick Gouchan (Italy) psychology, biography and history. 1600 – 1645 Panel 2 chaired by Joanny Moulin Étienne Naveau (Indonesia) Carl Rollyson (US) Public Discussion with Hans Renders Elsbeth Etty (the Netherlands) Daniel Meister (Canada) 00 00 Daniel Meister (Canada) 16 – 17 Elsbeth Etty (the Netherlands) 1800 Phuong Ngoc Nguyen (Vietnam) Keynote Lecture by Richard Holmes Stefano Magni (Italy) Conference Dinner at Humphrey’s The Biographer’s Handshake 1245 – 1400 Doctoral defense ceremony of Nick 1730 Weber, at Academy Building Drinks at Conference Venue

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Additional Information

On September 19, 2018, Dr Nigel Hamilton, author Dutch On September 18, the Nederlandse Biografieprijs (Dutch of award-winning biographies of Fieldmarshall Biography Prize) will be awarded during a ceremony in Montgomery, F.D. Roosevelt and J.F. Kennedy, will Biography Prize the Hodshon Huis in Haarlem. The award is organized host a masterclass on his best practices as a biogra- in close cooperation with the Koninklijke Hollandsche Biography as pher. It will give Research Master and PhD students Maatschappij der Wetenschappen. The winner will be the opportunity to discuss the way biographical interviewed during the Biography Conference. a Corrective research can correct existing historiography. How can ‘agency’ be used as a hermeneutic device to compare the way different individuals acted during a certain time and place? By reading different samples from Excursions For those who are interested to see what Groningen and Dr Hamilton’s biographies, students will investigate September 19 the Netherlands have to offer, we have organized two the structural incoherence between the agency of an cultural trips on Wednesday. At grid, the Museum of individual, and the mentality of the time in which he Printing in the city center, you can get a tour of Dutch or she lived. What makes historical practice compre- historic printing and bookbinding. Or you could visit the hensible, if it is not related to some larger structure memorial center and grounds of Kamp Westerbork, an ex- or development? Students will delve into the debate hibition depicting the Netherlands during World War II, on what did biographers do to contribute to metho- focusing on the persecution of the Jews. You can express Masterclass dology of Microhistory, in which developments on a your interest in visiting one of these sites while booking September 19 small scale can be an analytical framework for a more your tickets. 30 00 12 – 16 complex historical phenomenon.

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To Student Hotel Important Addresses Hotel Corps de Garde Doopsgezinde Kerk (Main Conference Venue) Oude Boteringestraat 33 Doopsgezinde Kerk

Biography Institute Grid Museum Biography Institute Land van Kokanje Oude Boteringestraat 32

Academy Building Academy Building Broerstraat 5

Bagels & Beans Taxi Stand Humphrey’s Restaurant Vismarkt 42

De Wolthoorn Pigalle

Humphrey’s

Contact Information Biography Institute [email protected]

Prof. Hans Renders (Director of the Biography Institute) t: +31 6 5321 6666 e: [email protected]

To Railway Station 7 Madelon recently Her research focuses on biographies Organizing Madelon finished her MA within their social contexts. In her MA Committee Franssen degree at the Univer- thesis, From Poet-Naturalist to Radi- sity of Groningen. cal Dissenter, Madelon compared three She studied American Studies, as well biographies written about Henry David as Writing, Editing, and Mediating. Thoreau during three different time During her studies, she completed the periods. By pointing out the myriad ways university’s Honours College, focusing biographers construct a life story that specifically on the role of religion in the reflects the biographer’s own cultural public domain. Furthermore, she went on setting, she was able to conclude that a foreign exchange, which allowed her to biographies are true products of their study at the University of North Carolina time. Madelon is especially interested in at Chapel Hill for one semester. studying the biographer’s authorial deci- sions, interpretations, and place within a Hans is the director of Institute for the History and Theory of historical context. Hans the Biography Institute Biography (Vienna); member of the Best Renders and holds a chair in His- Biography Awards committee for bio tory and Theory of Biog- Best Biography of the Year (Plutarch David works as a PhD interface between the artist’s self-repre- raphy; vice president of the Biographical Award 2018). David student at the Biogra- sentation and the shifting place of the Society; editor-in-chief of the book series Veltman phy Institute (Univer- artist in society. Together with Hans Biography Studies (Brill); editor at ZL. He publishes on theory and biography, sity of Groningen) on Renders, David wrote the yearly report Literary-historical magazine; book critic for e.g. Theoretical Discussions of Biography a biography of the Flemish artist Felix for the Netherlands in the International Het Parool; he provides a monthly column (with Binne de Haan, Brill, Boston/ de Boeck (1898-1995). In his biography, Year in Review issue of the journal on biography with his ‘Leven in Letters’, Leiden 2014) and The Biographical questions will be raised about his relation Biography (2017). which can be heard every third Sunday of Turn, Lives in History (with Binne de to the avant-garde of his time. At an the month on the radio program Met het Haan and Jonne Harmsma, Routledge, early age, De Boeck decided to earn his David has a Master’s degree in Dutch Oog op Morgen; he is member of the Board London/New York 2017); he published living as a farmer, in order to be inde- modern literature. After graduating in of Stichting Het Biografisch Portaal van two full-length biographies (Jan Hanlo pendent from art galleries and museums. 2005, he worked eight years in the Haar- Nederland; member of the Board Biog- (1998), Jan Campert (2004)) and is now This decision will be used as a framework lem based auction house Bubb Kuyper. raphers International Organization (bio); working on the biography of Theo van to examine the way his artistic develop- There he specialized in Dutch private member of the board De Nederlandse Doesburg (in collaboration with ment was of influence to the evolution of presses and fine printing. He is freelance Biografieprijs; member of the Scientific Sjoerd van Faassen). his political views. Special attention will reporter for the Dutch artist’s magazines Advisory Board of the Ludwig Boltzmann be given to how biography can show the Atelier and kM (Artist’s Material).

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Many books about Piet Mondrian have been published since the artist’s death in 1944. Yet there is still a lacuna. The 1956 book on Mondrian by his friend and admirer Michel Seuphor codified incorrect information and created a false image of the artist that have until now Nick Weber is president of the Josef and Anni had a lasting effect. The 1998 Catalogue Albers Foundation. He has published among Biography of Raisonn é by Joop M. Joosten and Robert other biographical studies: Nick P. Welsh is indispensable for Mondrian Piet Mondrian’s research, but it, too, created errors about Balthus, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York Weber Early Years Mondrian’s life that have been repeated 1999; C'Etait Le Corbusier, Editions Fayard, since. Paris 2009; The Bauhaus Group. Six Masters of (1872-1919) Weber’s dissertation, thoroughly resear- Modernism, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York ched through letters, interviews, and the 2009 and Freud’s Trip to Orvieto: The Great archives about Mondrian in various coun- Doctor’s Unresolved Confrontation with Antisem- tries, deliberately avoids a single doctrine itism, Death, and Homoeroticism; His Passion or opinion but, rather, provides copious for Paintings: and the Writer in His Footsteps, new insights at the same time that it Bellevue Literary Press, New York 2017. acknowledges the mysteries Mondrian carefully guarded. While presenting This PhD-research was supervised by prof. Mondrian’s first forty-seven years in the Hans Renders and dr. Peter de Ruiter. context of the artist’s surroundings and the pertinent shifts in European culture Doctoral Defense Ceremony that impacted him, it will demonstrate September 20 that, regardless of his many contacts with Academy Building, 1245 – 1400 members of the avant-garde, Mondrian always chose his own singular path. The artist, to an unequalled extent, made the creation of an art that was universal, and unrelated to epoch or location or indivi- duality, to sole goal of his life.

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Carl Rollyson, Professor Emeritus of Journalism, at Baruch College, CUNY, has published twelve It has been almost twenty years since biographies: A Real American Character: The Life of Edmund Morris outraged reviewers of Walter Brennan, A Private Life of Michael Foot, To Be presidential biography with his effort to A Woman: The Life of Jill Craigie, Amy Lowell Anew: subvert the stodgy genre by inventing a Double A Biography, American Isis: The Life and Art of Sylvia Carl narrator and events that seemed to him Plath, Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews, Marilyn Dutch: the only way to get at his elusive subject. Rollyson Monroe: A Life of the Actress, Lillian Hellman: Her Life Where to look for precedents in Mor- and Legend, Beautiful Exile: The Life of Martha Gellhorn, The Art of ris’s bold and controversial authorized Norman Mailer: The Last Romantic, Rebecca West: A biography, when the very term, authori- Presidential Modern Sibyl, Susan Sontag: The Making of an Icon, and zed, exalts the old reliable and, so Morris three studies of biography, A Higher Form of Canni- thought, boring narratives when what Biography balism? Adventures in the Art and Politics of Biography, he wanted to do was be a boffo Boswell. Biography: A User’s Guide and Confessions of a Serial Are there authorized biographers who Biographer. His reviews of biography appear in Reading have gone rogue—and in effect, joined Biography, American Biography, Lives of the Novelists, the ranks of the unauthorized, or perhaps Essays in Biography in The Wall Street Journal, The Week- Panel we should say, de-authorized? Since ly Standard, The New Criterion and other newspapers September 20 2003, I have reviewed dozens of presi- and periodicals. 1015 – 1115 dential biographies, and it is time to look He has published four biographies for young adults at what they have wrought. Is there a way on Pablo Picasso, Marie Curie, Emily Dickinson, and Roundtable Discussion to reverse the rope tied around presiden- Thurgood Marshall. He is working on This Alarming September 21 tial biography, so that biographers can 30 00 Paradox: The Life of William Faulkner forthcoming from 11 – 13 jump in two different directions at once? University of Virginia Press and The Last Days of Sylvia Plath forthcoming from University Press of Mississippi.

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The research team of the National Research University “Higher School of Economics” studied the biographies of Evgeniya Petrova is associate professor at the professionals who worked in the media Faculty of Communication Media and of the in 2016 and 2017. The analyses of the Design National Research University Higher Biography empirical base, which consisted of more School of Economics, Moscow, Russia. Her Evgeniya than 200 biographical texts, made it pos- way to biographical research went through in Russia sible to draw conclusions on not only the several stages. In 2010 Evgeniya earned her Petrova specifics of a career in the media, but also PhD with her dissertation, which focused on “The micro level point of the main tendencies of the media sphere the history of the Russian press. In the study, view is really new for the in Russia. In our opinion, the study of the she used biographical materials from differ- Russian research tradition” most important processes and phenome- ent periods of the history as the important na in the context of human biographies is resource of data. In 2012-2016, Evgeniya took a perspective and productive approach. part in anthropological project, including In recent years, biographical research expeditions in several Russian regions (such has become widely accepted in Russia. as Moscow, Siberia, and the south of Russia). Nowadays the most popular approach in This experience helped her to pay more atten- the system of biographical studies is the tion to the individuals, to their past and pres- sociological point of view. But we think ent days. Biographical studies have become a that biographical studies have a high po- continuation of this research trajectory. tential in different fields of studying. The micro level point of view is really new for Panel the Russian research tradition. There are September 20 a lot of questions concerning the metho- 15 15 10 – 11 dological base of the biographical studies.

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Joanny Moulin will present the state of Joanny Moulin, Senior Member of Institut the art of biography in France today, and Universitaire de France, Professor of English since the beginning of the 21st century. literature at Aix-Marseille Université, President The French situation has this particulari- of the Biography Society, is currently involved in ty that there is no equivalent of ‘life-writ- a research project entitled ‘Biography, Critique of Biography ing’ properly speaking as an academic a Literary Genre’, aiming at producing a theory of Joanny discipline; ‘récits de vie’ is a different biography based on the critical study of a corpus in France concept, circumscribed to the social sci- of major contemporary biographers in the UK, Moulin ences, and seen as already passé. Studies the US and France. His most recent publications “Biography has gathered centred on autobiography, following in are ‘Lives of the Poets: Poetry & Biography’ in great importance the steps of Philippe Lejeune, have had Études anglaises, ‘Towards Biography Theory’, in over recent decades, considerable importance. But biography Cercles, and, in collaboration with Hans Renders, in terms of readership as a specific literary genre has received ‘Great Biographers’ in The Great Historical Figu- and publishing” as yet little critical attention, although res in Art and Literature. In 2007, he published a it has gathered great importance over biography of Ted Hughes, being the first of a series recent decades, in terms of readership and of five biographies: of Charles Darwin, Queen publishing, but also, even more remark- Elisabeth I and II and Seamus Heaney. He was ably, as a literary institution, with the one of the founding members of the Biography foundation of more prizes and awards. Society in 2015. As president of this society, his Biography in France today is a ‘serious’ objective is twofold: on the one hand, to make a literary genre, exerting a strong influence significant contribution to the theory of biography over contemporary fiction, and triggering by individual and collective research, and, on the innovative research in the humanities, other hand, to foster the development of biography Panel because it poses fruitful challenges to studies as a new domain of teaching and research September 20 the current reflection at the crossroads of in the perimeter of French anglistics. 15 15 10 – 11 several adjacent fields of knowledge.

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We are now living in an age in which we can state that the ‘fragmented’ biography is start- ing to disappear. The same goes for the taboo on intimate facts such as life, sex, drugs, and Elsbeth Etty is a Dutch biographer, literary critic, rock ‘n’ roll, and the psychological interpre- columnist for De Groene Amsterdammer, and chair of Biography tation of the subject. At the same time, and the Multatuli Genootschap. From 1987 to 2017, she Elsbeth Etty most likely because of this shift, there is a worked as an editor for nrc Handelsblad. in the demand for a thorough foundation of both facts and interpretations. She studied Dutch language at the VU University Netherlands In the past, revelations about the subject’s Amsterdam. For her biography Liefde is heel het “The fact that publishers, war history were used to intrigue and create leven niet - Henriette Roland Holst 1869-1952, she critics, and historians interest in the biography. There is nothing obtained her doctoral degree cum laude in Utrecht. For this book, she was awarded the Gouden Uil, accept unverifiable ‘facts’ wrong with that. However, precisely these sorts of painful revelations should be based the Busken Huet Prijs, and she was nominated is a dangerous development” on thorough research, contextualized psy- for the ako-literatuurprijs. In 2008, her columns chologically and sociologically, and provided earned her the Anne Vondeling Prijs for political with a verifiable foundation. journalism. From 2005 to 2015, she was endowed The Biography in the Netherlands, in the professor at the VU University Amsterdam. She is twentieth century, comprises a few important currently in the process of finishing a biography of themes, such as World War II and pillariza- the Dutch poet and songwriter Willem Wilmink. tion, two phenomena in which factuality is Panel most important. Biographers who blindly cite September 20 ‘facts’ from literary works and pretend they 1130 – 1230 are the truth, undermine the genre. The fact that publishers, critics, and his- Roundtable Discussion torians accept unverifiable ‘facts’ and do not September 21 hold the author responsible, is a dangerous 00 30 11 – 12 development.

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Canada is a particularly fruitful country through which to study the way the writ- Daniel R. Meister is a PhD Candidate and Teach- ing of biography is affected by national ing Fellow in the Department of History at Queen’s The Writing context and how biography can contribute University whose research interests include modern Daniel to a better understanding of difference. Canadian history, environmental history, historical of Historical Difference, while not a new concept, has biography, and historiography. His recent article, “The Meister Biography in a taken on heightened importance in recent Biographical Turn and the Case for Historical Biogra- decades as societies and their leaders phy,” argues for the discipline of history to fully accept Multicultural struggle with the realities of increasing biography as a subfield. His dissertation, funded by global migration. Born in Canada, a the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada policy of multiculturalism was originally of Canada, explores the idea of race in the history of believed to be the solution to the larger Canadian multiculturalism by examining a number “problem of diversity” and, despite some of public intellectuals who were in some ways early criticism, it has come to form an integral proponents of tolerance during the interwar period. Panel part of the country’s national identity. By taking a biographical approach, which allows for September 20 This paper assesses the state of histor- a sustained look at each figure’s life and thought, the 30 30 11 – 12 ical biography and explores the role of study reveals that their understanding of diversity was biography in this multicultural context, shaped by the ideas of race and whiteness, and sug- Roundtable Discussion focusing particularly on the themes of gests there are parallels between their thinking and September 21 cultural perspective, difference, and the later official policy of multiculturalism. 00 30 11 – 12 understanding.

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Biography has a long tradition in Viet- Phuong Ngoc (Jade) Nguyen is an associate professor nam. The Chinese scholar Sima Qian in Vietnamese language and civilization at Aix-Mar- (145 bce - 86 bce) wrote his Records of seille University (amu) and a member of the Institute Biography the Grand Historian (Shiji) consisting of for Asian Reseach (amu-cnrs). After her thesis, At Phuong in Vietnam: biographies of kings and famous per- the Beginning of Anthropology in Vietnam (2004), she Ngoc sonalities. This model was adopted by continued her reseach on Vietnamese intellectuals and History and Vietnamese biographers since the Chi- writers, particularly on introducing ideas of science ( Jade) nese domination from 111 bce to 938 ce. and arts in the colonial Vietnam during the first half Developments Biography, in the Confucian mind, has of twentieth century. In her recent works, she focus- Nguyen to be a ‘mirror’ for the present and future es on the emergence and the developement of the generations; a biography is a story of a modern Vietnamese literature written in quốc ngữ (a person, but we have to tell it as a moral writing system using the Latin script). Some publica- lesson that is useful for all of us. tions: A l’origine de l’anthropologie au Vietnam, Aix-en- A more critical tradition in Vietnam- Provence, pup, 2012; Tản Đà et Rousseau. Réception ese biography began when Vietnamese par des lettrés de formation classique dans le Việt Nam intellectuals reading French biographies colonial, Rousseau studies, Genève, Ed. Stalkine, n°3, discovered different ways of telling a life. 2015; L’intellectuel comme intermédiaire colonial. Le cas Biography became a way of understand- de la Société d’Enseignement Mutuel du Tonkin (1892- ing another human being, not a lesson. 1946), in Dominique Barjot et Jean-François Klein But still, you can’t find any biography of (eds.), De l’Indochine coloniale au Viet-Nam actuel, Panel Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam comparable Magellan & Cie, 2017, p. 221-237. September 20 to those written by the French historians 30 30 11 – 12 Lacouture or Brocheux.

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South African biography, like its his- toriography, is dominated by the coun- try’s divided past. While the system of apartheid was in place for 46 years, the A Country Lindie Koorts is a South African biographer, country has a much longer history of historian and columnist. She obtained her PhD racial discrimination, dispossession and at War with in History at the University of Stellenbosch, Lindie inequality. The advent of democracy and is currently a senior lecturer at the Inter- its Symbols: in 1994 brought with it an insatiable national Studies Group, University of the Free Koorts appetite for stories about the struggle State. She holds a Newton Advanced Fellow- South African against apartheid. These dominate the ship from the British Academy for her ongoing South African non-fiction market, which Biography biographical research of Paul Kruger, the pres- in turn outsells local fiction. While the ident of the Transvaal at the time of the South plethora of struggle biographies fed into in the African War. Her biography of D.F. Malan, the a somewhat uncomplicated meta-narra- man who instituted the policy of apartheid, was Post-Apartheid tive, in recent years, we have witnessed a the first comprehensive biography of an apart- new turn. The so-called “decolonisation” Era heid leader to have been published after the movement has led to a society at war with country’s turn to democracy in 1994. The book the lingering symbols of its colonial past. won and was shortlisted for several non-fiction Roundtable Discussion Erstwhile heroes are being reappraised, awards, including the Sunday Times Alan Paton September 20 while there are renewed tensions between shortlist, and the Kyknet-Rapport shortlist for 1430 – 1600 the veneration for prominent individuals non-fiction. and the role of the “collective.” It is in Panel this fraught landscape that South African September 21 biographers continue to study past indi- 30 30 14 – 15 viduals in their own right.

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New Zealand has a rich tradition of Doug Munro is a New Zealand-based biographer and biographical writing for such a small historian and an adjunct professor at the University country. The genre extends across the of Queensland, Australia. He started as an historian spectrum, including biographies of of the Pacific Islands with a PhD from Macquarie politicians, soldiers and figures from University in Sydney, and much of his working life Biography in the colonial period. For a sports-mad was spent at the University of the South Pacific. It was Doug country, there is an unsurprising surfeit there that he made a transition into writing biograph- New Zealand of biographies about sporting identities. ical studies of Pacific historians and he then branched Munro Conversely, for a country with a reputa- into biography generally with studies of James Herriot “The tradition of tion of being indifferent at best to artistic and Sonia Orwell. Between 2005 and 2012, Doug scholarly biography endeavour, there are a surprising number was the researcher for a major project on suicide in in New Zealand on the representative of “high culture” – twentieth century New Zealand, co-ordinated by is shallow” writers, poets, artists, and musicians. John C. Weaver of McMaster University in Canada. At the same time, the tradition of scholarly biography in New Zealand is His interests now focus on academic controversies and shallow – beginning with the expansion biographical studies of historians generally (including of the universities in the 1960s – and G.R. Elton and George Rudé). In 2014 he co-ed- the increase of biographies written by ited (with Geoffrey Gray and Christine Winter) a academics has had a generally beneficial special issue of the Journal of Historical Biography on Roundtable Discussion effect on the genre, as I will argue. I will the theme “Telling Academic Lives.” Doug’s major September 20 also look at publishers’ perception of the publication is The Ivory Tower and Beyond: Participant 30 00 14 – 16 marketplace as a factor in determining Historians of the Pacific (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cam- which subjects get biographies, as well as bridge Scholars Publishing, 2009). His most recent Panel discussing how biographers, and writers book (co-edited with John G. Reid) is Clio’s Lives: September 21 generally, make a living in a country with Biographies and Autobiographies of Historians (Canber- 15 15 10 – 11 relatively few support structures. ra: anu Press, 2017).

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María Jesús González is a Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Cantabria, Spain and Senior Biography in Spain has faced challenges, Research Fellow at the Cañada Blanch Centre for Con- many of them extraneous to the genre. temporary Spanish Studies (lse, London). Flourishing under European influence du- ring the 1930s, it was abruptly halted by the She is an expert in the political history of the reign of Civil War. A lengthy dictatorship saw it hij- Alfonso xiii, she is author of Ciudadanía y Acción: El Biography acked to serve the heroic and hagiographic conservadurismo maurista 1907–1923 (1990) and the María in Spain ethos of National-Catholicism. Democracy, political biography of the conservative statesman An- Jesús when it arrived, demanded a collective tonio Maura: El universo conservador de Antonio Maura: “Fresh contributions protagonist and history from below and held Biografía y proyecto de Estado (1997), shortlisted for the González and the re-examination biography in contempt. Nationalist projects, Spanish National Essay Prize, 1998. of controversial characters particularly in Catalonia, saw in it a tool for have nurtured the the (re)construction of cultural identity and She has written the intellectual biography of Raymond academic debate” cohesion. Carr, the British hispanist: Raymond Carr. La curiosi- Since the mid-1990s, biography has dad del zorro. Una biografía, (2010), shortlisted for the gradually become historiographically Spanish National Prize of History 2011. Translated into relevant, as witnessed by improvements in English as Raymond Carr. The curiosity of the fox, (2013), the quality and number of publications, the longlisted for the Elizabeth Longford Prize of Histori- range of subjects and perspectives treated, cal Biography, 2014. and studies on its methodology and theory. Prizes, seminars, symposia and postgraduate Among other chapters or articles on biographies of courses on biography bespeak its growing politicians or intellectuals, she has recently co-edited a Roundtable Discussion presence in the cultural-academic world. book about a Spanish historian: Gonzalez, M.J., Ugarte, September 20 Fresh contributions and the re-exa- J., Juan Pablo Fusi. El historiador y su tiempo (2016). 30 00 14 – 16 mination of controversial characters have nurtured the academic debate, but the She now co-directs with prof. Anna Caballe an inter- Panel intelligibility of biography has also begun national research project on Biography: Biographical September 21 to attract both the general reader and the Reason: Biography and Autobiographical narratives in the 15 15 10 – 11 interest of publishers. historical and literary research of XXth century Europe. Case studies and theoretical reflections. (har2017-82500-P, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness).

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Yannick Gouchan is a Professor of Italian Literature and Culture at Aix-Marseille Université (France). He teaches at the Italian Studies Department and has This lecture intends to give an historical been a researcher at the caer (Center of Research in survey of the practice of biography in Romance Studies) since 2004. He is a member of the contemporary Italy. From the particular editorial board of the French review Italies and the relationship between the biography and Italian publishing house Stilo Editrice. His scholar- Writing the nation building process – in other Yannick ship mainly concerns contemporary Italian literature, words “to make the Italians”, in the late in particular poetry. He published many articles Gouchan Lives in 19th century and the early 20th century and essays on Giovanni Pascoli, Attilio Bertolucci, – to the different forms of telling lives in Contemporary Vittorio Sereni, as well as Paolo Maccari, Salvatore nowadays’ Italy. Yannick will also exam- Quasimodo and World War I Italian literature. Italy ine the different outlook of some great intellectuals and historians on biography His last published works are about childhood in (such as Benedetto Croce, Arnaldo Mo- Italian poetry between the late 19th and early 20th migliano, Carlo Ginzburg and Giovanni centuries (La figura del fanciullo nell’opera di D’Annun- Levi), and discuss the importance of zio, di Pascoli e dei Crepuscolari, Cisalpino, 2016, and the publishing firms and some editorial Enfances italiennes, “Italies”, n. 21, pup, 2017). As a collections for the practice of biography, member of the board of the Biography Society, he Roundtable Discussion in order to understand several specific contributes with studies on the relationship between September 20 issues such as: national lives versus local 30 00 Poetry and Biography (Giovanni Pascoli à l’épreuve de 14 – 16 ones; the selection of historical charac- la biographie, 2016 ; Études biographiques. La biographie ters; the importance of the micro-history; au carrefour des Humanités and Biography and Verity, Panel the thriving boom of the biography in both directed with Joanny Moulin and Phuong Ngoc September 21 the 70s and 80s; the studies and current 30 30 Nguyen, to be published by Champion in 2018 and 14 – 15 research on biography. 2019), and the Biography in the graphic novel (La vie graphique d’Elizabeth Siddal, 2018).

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Sahar has a BA in Mining Engineering (minors: Sahar argues that the “forbidden issues” extraction) from Sahand University of Technology of biographies can not only be used to (Iran) and an MA in Iranian languages (minors: Old explain the differences between various Indo-Iranian languages) from Public University of Hidden and societies in the realms of culture, policy, Tabriz (Iran). She was selected as brilliant talent of Sahar Forbidden religion and social life, but that they are Tabriz University from 2016 to 2018. She started Vahdati also a suitable benchmark for investigat- her research on biography at the age of 16, focusing Issues of ing the process of created alterations in on Iranian cultural eminent persons. She published Hosseinian a society during different historical time a book and several articles on internal and external Biographies periods. publications; gave presentations in international sym- Opposing views on controversial posiums held in Turkey and Tajikistan; cooperated as in the topics can be discussed freely in certain a researcher in Tajikistan oral history; and prepared Recognition societies, but not in all of them. The for- and executed programs introducing some of Iranian bidden issues, or the do’s and don’ts, can prominent personalities for Radio Tehran. of Various be imposed on societies either compul- sorily or conventionally. Biographies are Her works focus on the influence of eminent persons Societies a suitable place for the manifestation of in cultural mutual relations between Iran and other these controversies in various societies. countries (specifically Iran’s neighbors). Her research This lecture briefly investigates the shows how Iranian notables had and have deep influ- governing cultural, religious and social ences on the various cultural aspects of Turkey and topics in Iran from the Constitutional Tajikistan. Sahar is very interested in the cultural and Revolution to the Islamic Revolution. linguistic issues of biography. As an independent re- Panel Furthermore, it will specifically focus on searcher, she tries to investigate the role of languages September 21 the role and impact of censorship in the and translation in biography and the role of culture in 15 15 10 – 11 writing of biography in Iran. the ruling policy of contemporary politicians.

32 33 Biography Conference September 19-21, 2018

Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the History and Theory of Biography. University Austrian university reforms after the revolutio- Professor, Department of European and Compa- nary years 1848/49 institutionalised the disci- rative Literature and Language Studies, University plines Germanic Studies, Historiography, and of Vienna. Houghton Research Fellow, Harvard Musicology, leading to a blossoming in acade- University (Spring 2015); Visiting Professor, UCLA Biography in mic biographies. This talk outlines the main (Spring 2009); Rockefeller Resident Fellow (Spring Wilhelm Austria strands of development and discusses them in 2008); By-Fellow, Churchill College, University of Hemecker the context of political disruptions and uphe- Cambridge (Spring 2007). Founding member of the avals. In particular, biographies by academic International Auto/Biography Association (IABA) historians were exclusively focused on Austrian Europe. politicians and aristocrats, due to a special focus on primary source materials in the university Research Interests: History and theory of biography, curriculums. This resulted in such gargantuan literature of the late 18th – 21st centuries, Viennese projects as Alfred Arnett’s ten volume biograp- Modernism (interdisciplinary), history of psycho- hy of Maria Theresa (1863-1879). analysis, interrelationships between literature and Furthermore, the talk will present a more philosophy, memorial culture, information and broad view on biographies, as produced at 19th writing systems, archives. and early 20th century German departments. Biographical traditions partly supported the Curator of literary exhibitions on Mechtilde Lich- Great German ideology, partly opposed it, and nowsky (Schiller National Museum, Marbach), R. established a specific Austrian tradition. M. Rilke (Austrian State Archives), and the literary Finally, the talk expands on popular bio- circle ‘Jung Wien’ (Ensemble of 11 exhibitions in graphies of high literary quality, in particular Vienna and Salzburg), amongst others. those by Stefan Zweig with his mundane global Monographs on Freud, Rilke and Mechtilde Lich- Panel approach. nowsky. Editor of Die Biographie. Beiträge zu ihrer September 21 Geschichte. Berlin/New York 2009. Co-Editor of 1430 – 1545 Biography in Theory. Key Texts with Commentaries, Berlin/Boston 2017.

34 35 Biography Conference September 19-21, 2018

Indonesian biographies focus both on indi- vidual and collective identities, showing us a close relationship between the picture of the Individuals and the picture of the nation. Holder of an “agrégation” and a PhD in philosop- Biographies of political figures (Sukarno, Soe- hy, Étienne Naveau has also received a doctorate harto, Tan Malaka), eminent artists (writers, in Indonesian language, literature and civilization singers, dancers, painters), religious figures and from the Inalco (the National Institute for Oriental entrepreneurs deal with the whole nation. In Languages and Civilizations). The subject of his Some considering Indonesian biographies, we must doctorate is Indonesian autobiographical texts. Since Étienne take account of the list of national heroes which 2003, Étienne Naveau has been a lecturer in Indo- Considerations aroused sets of official or popular biographies, nesian language and literature at Inalco and a mem- Naveau sometimes intended for young readers. These ber of Cerlom (Center for Studies and Research about Indonesian works are often hagiographies. They take part on World Literatures and Orality). In November in the nation-building, representing the Indo- 2017, he attended his hdr with the title “Indonesian Biographies nesian diversity (ethnic, religious) whom they Identities and Foundational Discourses (Literature, in the are trying to defend. Philosophy, Religions).” We shall consider the biographies of three 20th Century founding figures: Amir Hamzah, the first great Étienne Naveau teaches translation, history of poet of the Indonesian Modernity, considered a Modern Indonesian literature and analysis of Indo- as link with the classical Malay tradition, Kar- nesian religious and political discourses. He is also tini, the pioneer of Indonesian feminism and a translator of Indonesian literature. He translated Sukarno, the first President of the Republic. an anthology of Indonesian sonnets (Paris, Pasar Sukarno proclaimed the Independence and Malam, 2015), a bilingual anthology of poems by conceived the political system, the Pancasila, Taufiq Ismail (Jakarta, Horison, 2015), a bilingu- Roundtable Discussion that made possible to build the Indonesian na- al booklet of Sufi poetry by Acep Zamzam Noor September 20 tion, trying to reconcile the claims of Muslim (Paris, Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2016), as well 30 00 14 – 16 and secular figures. Looking at change in pic- as two novels by Eka Kurniawan (Paris, Folio and turing these three personalities should help us Sabine Wespieser, 2017). Panel to better understand the relationship between September 21 the perceptions of these Individuals and the 30 30 14 – 15 building of the Indonesian nation itself.

36 37 Biography Conference September 19-21, 2018

The Biographer’s Handshake

“I have been writing and teaching biography for over fifty years, so I come before you as an old-timer (or ancient mariner), Richard Holmes was the first Professor of whose hand may be shaking Biographical Studies at the University of East Anglia, 2001-2007. He is a Fellow in more senses than one.” of the British Academy, and an Honorary Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. In my time I have seen remarkable changes He is the author of Footsteps: Adventures of come over the form, not least its invasion by a Romantic Biographer, and biographies of Richard autobiography, the memoir, the selfie and Shelley, Coleridge and young Dr Johnson. the internet. In response I would like to look His study of scientists and poets The Age Holmes at my own changing research and teaching of Wonder won the Royal Society Prize methods, and my emerging idea of “the hand- for Science Books (UK) and the National shake” across different generations, cultures, Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction disciplines, and genders. To do this I will (usa). He has also written about the early glance back at the British national tradition balloonists in Falling Upwards, which was of liberal biography that has inspired me, one of Time magazine’s Top Ten Non-Fic- and explore the key but deeply problematic tion Books of 2013. His most recent book notions of empathy and advocacy which all is This Long Pursuit, a study of his bi- Keynote Lecture biographers everywhere have to confront. I ographical methods and teaching. In 2018 September 20 will risk by ending with my notorious “Ten he won the international bio Award (usa) 00 00 16 – 17 Commandments for Biographers”. for sustained achievement in Biography.

38 39 Biography Conference September 19-21, 2018

Interview with Nigel Hamilton

World order admits this process has been going on Hamilton claims that Churchill was for a while now, but “Trump represents Not Winston Churchill, but US only interested in winning the war, while the worst of America, something other Roosevelt was thinking ahead, envision- than his selfish self. A cultural crisis, one President Franklin D. Roosevelt ing a world after the war. “He wanted to in which America fails to adjust to the construct the United Nations, including challenges of a changing world.” was the military genius of World a safety council that united the great If America is no longer the glue that War Two, claims Nigel Hamilton. world powers. He was a visionary in that holds the modern world order together, respect.” In 1945, while he was preparing could the rise of a new world order be a speech aimed at setting up the United a possibility? Could this lead to a clash The praised American biographer obtained his doctoral Nations, Roosevelt died. In the United between the existing world powers? “I degree at the University of Groningen’s Biography Institute in Nations, world powers were united politi- do not believe the US will declare war 2016, for a biography about fdr’s role as military strategist. cally and economically. Over the course of on Russia or China, but smaller conflicts, the seventy years after World War Two, a such as the one between America and Biography as a corrective new, united world order emerged, just like North Korea, might escalate. That is how In his dissertation, Hamilton focuses specifically on the year fdr imagined. “Roosevelt saw America as the First World War started.” 1943, a year Roosevelt’s biographers have ignored until now. the glue that held the world together, and Hamilton’s original idea was to portray fdr as a “commander it has been like that for the past seventy Groningen in chief.” In over seventy years of scholarship, no historian has years.” Hamilton had already written 27 books ever studied fdr as a military strategist. In the epilogue to his before he received his doctoral degree at dissertation, Hamilton pleads for a “biography as corrective.” Donald Trump age 72. He longed for professional feed- Why do biographies need to correct history? According to Hamilton, the presidency of back on his work, which he received from Hamilton: “The problem with historians is that they Donald Trump might threaten that unity. Hans Renders. “I thought it was amazing Masterclass search for patterns in history, almost as if they were stat- “I am worried this world order might to do my dissertation in Groningen, also September 19 isticians. They do not study events at a microscopic scale. not survive Trump. He is not especially because of Doeko Bosscher's involvement. 1230 – 1600 Biographers, however, study a specific person in detail. They interested in anything but holding his The city is great, and the Biography Insti- do not do so to map out a personality, but rather to answer own business empire together.” Hamil- tute is renowned. The only part I did not Opening Lecture the question how that person influenced the world around ton believes America’s power will wane like, was the dissertation’s defense. When September 19 him. Historians scratch the surface, while biographers conduct because of Trump, and China will take I finally heard ‘hora est,’ I felt happier 30 30 16 – 17 forensic research like a detective.” over in military and economic terms. He than I had been in ages.”

40 41 Biography Conference September 19-21, 2018

Interview with John A. Farrell

What was your first encounter with biography? “the Dutch have

My mother was a great history buff - especially the history who lacked advanced a keen recognition search - Nixon’s political of our Revolutionary War. When my dad went off on busi- degrees. This trend has of human frailty” files - were not opened ness trips, she would pack us in the car and head for Lex- continued as biographers until 2007, and yielded ington and Concord, or Williamsburg or Yorktown. And like Robert Caro, David McCullough, particularly revealing evidence from the there was, during my childhood, a series of “Landmark” Ron Chernow, Stacy Schiff and Walter 1968 campaign, including his attempts books for young readers, published Isaacson now command the best-seller to sabotage President Lyndon Johnson’s “I have played no major by Random House, available in lists. For popular audiences, it is a fine eleventh-hour initiative to bring an end our grade school library. As a way to study history. to the Vietnam War on the eve of the role in biography’s success newspaperman, I made something election. in the United States.” of a name for myself by writing long, long pieces - investigative In what way did your latest Nixon biogra- Can you tell us something more about your work and political feature stories - that often took the form phy contribute to the many biographies of relationship with the Netherlands? of profiles. And so, in 1995, when I wanted to stretch my him that already existed? skills even further, biography was a natural way to go. My wife –Catharina Anspach– was born There were indeed many Nixon books to and raised by Dutch parents. They Why is it such a successful genre in the US? What role did you chronicling the triumphs and disas- emigrated to North America – first to play in this success? ters of his presidency - and a flurry of Canada and then to the United States biographies published around the time – seeking economic opportunity in the It is not false modesty to report that I have played no major of his death in 1994. But when I began years after World War II. Though best role in biography’s success in the United States. It has Roundtable this project, seven years ago, there was known in the usa for their resilience, the always been popular: a tradition that goes back to the dis- no comprehensive single-volume life Dutch have a keen recognition of human Discussion ciples of the Founding Fathers, who collected their letters September 20 of Nixon that included the torrent of frailty, which is reflected in a delightful and published hagiographic accounts of their lives. There rich new material that has emerged sense of humor and a laudable commit- 1430 – 1600 were major contributions made by accomplished writers since 1994. One fresh source for re- ment to social justice.

42 43 Life, Love and Death The Newabc of Biography

Colofon In The Newabc of Biography – an abc of the genre, with Nigel 26 entries – two biographers and teachers take us on a This conference was organized by the Biography Institute, tour, from A for Authorization (a very misunderstood The Biography Society and the Biographers International Organization Hamilton Prof. Hans Renders (University of Groningen) concept, in the authors’ view) to Z for Zigzag to the End. Prof. Joanny Moulin (Université Aix-Marseille) & In trenchant, witty entries they explore the good, the bad and the plain ugly in modern “life writing” and the Scientific Committee Hans portrayal of real lives today – and how, across history and Hans Renders (Biography Institute) Joanny Moulin (LERMA) continents, we got here. Renders Patrick Di Mascio (LERMA) Highly original and compellingly written, The New Phuong Ngoc Nguyen (IrASIA) abc of Biography is both authoritative and provocative. It Yannick Gouchan (CAER) will fascinate general readers interested in how real lives Executive Committee are approached by biographers today in a multitude of Hans Renders, Professor and director of Biography Institute media – and how, historically, we got here. It will make a David Veltman, PhD candidate much-needed contribution in academia, where the theory Madelon Franssen, MA of biography is a burgeoning field of inquiry, as well as Committee of Recommendation providing an important text for students of history, lan- Prof. Doeko Bosscher, University of Groningen guage and literature, the arts, American and gender stud- Prof. Elsbeth Etty, VU University Amsterdam ies, science and media. And, not least, for biographers Prof. em. Richard Holmes trying to avoid the pitfalls of ignorance or ineptitude. Design Wouter Nanninga (degelvormgeving.nl) Amsterdam University Press

44 www.different-lives.com www.biografieinstituut.nl