Introduction
Temporal variations are studied since they identify unique points in time that can act as pivots for history to be changed. Among such studies are personal accounts such as autobiography, autobiography, and memoirs about a person’s life from the self or others’ perspective. These accounts are also called research on a person’s life. Biography has weightage since other personal account types are often collectively called a biography. Let us know what are the 4 types of biography and what are the significance of the 4 types of biography in this article, keep reading to know more.
Types of Biography
The utility of biography lies in the purpose it serves. For instance, biography has five specific types in educational research: personal life biography, memoir, scholarly chronicles, autobiography, and life history writing. However, the basic types are only four, namely the academic biography, prophetic biography, fictionalized academic biography, and historic fiction biography. As the name indicates, the first type is related to academic writing and may have the five types incorporated as its subtypes. The second type is more like guidance from studying a person’s life. Fictionalized biography combines the element of fiction with academic biography to carve out an entertaining story. The last type is an expression of creativity while describing the history of personal life and provides an extensively entertaining narrative of that person’s life. These four basic types are detailed as under:
The four types of biography
Academic biography
In an academic biography, educating the readers about a person’s life is intended. Like any other academic writing, this type also gathers detailed facts documented in some reliable source cited duly in a legitimate way so that they can be traced back and confirmed. These biographies stick to detailing a person’s life and do not deviate from their basic objective of informing the readers rather than including some justifications or morals.
Prophetic biography
Prophetic biographies drive moral facts out of a person’s life and detail them as guidelines for the readers. Some examples include great leaders like Malcolm X and Joseph Stalin who made impacts throughout their lives and left the world with some lessons about life. To portray a person as the flag-bearer of change or a revolution is mainly called a prophetic biography. However, since this biography requires driving lessons from a person’s life, creativity in the form of story amendments is often avoided.
Fictionalized academic biography
Enhancing the reader’s understanding effectively by changing a person’s life account in a creative (fictional) way is called fictional academic biography. It is an interesting type since the hybridization of academic and fictional biographies leads to it. This means that it is credible and at the same time, an interesting read.
Fictionalized biography
This type is just like modern-day movies where many historical personalities are portrayed keeping in view the creativity of the movie writer. However, the exact account of a person’s life gets distorted to keep the readers motivated by changing the original account and replacing it with fiction. It is an effective way to tell a story since different readerships can be addressed without boring them. This type of biography innovates storytelling and makes reading an interesting experience.
Significance of the 4 types of biography
Academic writing is credible evidence of a personal account. It can be presented as a reliable compilation of the life events of a person. Prophetic biographies present exemplary characteristics of a person that guide the readers regarding different aspects of life. Fictionalized academic biography can be read just for entertainment as it is neither academic nor fictional, but a hybrid of the two. Though fictional biographies are also aimed at entertaining, they are more inclined towards a more justified account from the writer’s view.
Conclusion
Biographies present personal accounts based on certain writing characteristics. Each biographical type depends upon the purpose with which it is written. However, there are four basic types namely: academic biography, prophetic biography, fictionalized academic biography, and historic fiction biography. Each basic type has a different perspective of narrating a person’s life. An academic biography is detailed with facts and references for a more credible account. A prophetic biography is written to drive meaningful lessons out of a person’s account of life. Fictionalized academic biography merges the characteristics of academic and fictional biography types and carves out a credible yet creative story of a person’s life. Fictional biography aims to transform a biography into fiction and provides the best venue of entertainment as compared to other types.
Frequently Asked Question (FAQs)
1. In academic research, what is the most acceptable form of biography and why?
In academic research, the most acceptable form is the academic biography since it states traceable facts and references for its authentication.
2. Is it true that all biographies can involve some degree of manipulation?
No, only the fictional biography and fictionalized academic biography can contain some manipulation of facts to make them entertaining.
