Biofiction

Introduction I. The Nineteenth Century Origins 1. The Art of Agential Living 2. Portraits of Whom? II. Literature, Cultural Critique, and Political Liberation 3. Biofiction as Social Critique 4. The Irish, the Unslave Trade, and the Decolonization of the Mind 5. The 1930s and the First Surge in Biofiction III. Literary Debates 6. The Assault on Biofiction 7. The William Styron Controversy 8. Postmodernismâs Historiographic Metafiction or Biofictionâs âTruthâ Proposals? 9. John Edgar Wideman on the Ethics of Fictionalizing a Life in Biofiction IV. The Uncanny Power of Biofiction 10. Biofiction as Cultural Intervention: The Case of Sally Hemings 11. The 1990s: The Decade of Biofictionâs Official Legitimization and Dominance 12. The Transformative Powers of Biofiction for Students: A Case Study of David Ebershoffâs The Danish Girla

Acknowledgments

Introduction

I.

The Nineteenth Century Origins

1. The Art of Agential Living
2. Portraits of Whom?

Figure One

Figure Two

II.

Literature, Cultural Critique, and Political Liberation

3. Biofiction as Social Critique
4. The Irish, the Unslave Trade, and the Decolonization of the Mind
5. The 1930s and the First Surge in Biofiction

III.

Literary Debates

6. The Assault on Biofiction
7. The William Styron Controversy
8. Postmodernismâs Historiographic Metafiction or Biofictionâs "Truth" Proposals?
9. John Edgar Wideman on the Ethics of Fictionalizing a Life in Biofiction

IV.

The Uncanny Power of Biofiction

10. Biofiction as Cultural Intervention: The Case of Sally Hemings
11. The 1990s: The Decade of Biofictionâs Official Legitimization and Dominance
12. The Transformative Powers of Biofiction for Students: A Case Study of David Ebershoffâs The Danish Girl