THE BIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL AND THE EVOLUTION OF BIOGRAPHY: HISTORY, TYPES, AND LITERARY SIGNIFICANCE

Abstract

This study examines the development of biography as a literary genre and explores the emergence and growing prominence of the biographical novel. Beginning with the classical foundations of biography in Ancient Greece and Rome, the paper traces its transformation into a distinct literary form in the eighteenth century and its further evolution through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries under the influence of psychology and sociology. Particular attention is devoted to the biographical novel, a hybrid genre that blends historical fact with imaginative reconstruction. While initially dismissed by critics in the early twentieth century, the biographical novel gradually achieved both commercial success and scholarly recognition. The article analyzes various types of biography—popular, critical, historical, literary, reference, and fictional—and highlights their functions in shaping readers’ understanding of historical and contemporary figures. Through selected examples of notable biographers and influential works, the study demonstrates the enduring cultural and artistic significance of biography and its adaptations in literature, film, and theater.