Between The Real And Fictional, Hidden And Open

Literary biography has long been an attraction both to readers and critics. For the past few decades, this genre has taken up new appearances growing increasingly fictional. Fact and fiction can no longer be clearly distinguished. This thesis takes up Flaubert's Parrot and Author, Author as two examples. Their similarities and differences may tell us how contemporary writers construct another individual's life history and how these texts reflect current mentality towards historical representation.The contents and styles of both demonstrate that such fictional biographies are narratives much constructed and controlled by the writers according to their subjective perspectives. Fact and fiction are blurred, because, firstly, writers make selection of or even invent content for these biographies at their own discretion; second the writers choose different narrative styles to serve their purposes so that even the same event would render different effects. Also, during the writing of such texts, the biographical subjects become mirrors for writers themselves. Therefore such historical writing can no longer live up to the criteria of "complete and loyal to reality". It is completely a matter of construction and is much reliant on narrative styles and techniques.Besides the individual constructedness, the two texts also reveals, on a general scale, the understanding and attitude of historical representation of our age. Though written with subjectivity, neither text can escape the social-historical bound. Due to the desire to acquire more knowledge through other people's life, the sense of insecurity in our age, the distrust of grand-narratives, and some other factors, writers naturally turn to history for shelter and instruction. However history writing does not simply belong to the realm of reality and truth, but to that of language which is neither stable nor value-free. Thus, historical representations can no longer to be perceived as something solid and objective. The subjectivity embodied by the writers at the same time encourages the readers to have their own judgment. They are no longer so credulous as to be easily manipulated by other's ideologies. History does exist, but its very existence depends on the perspective we employ.