Versions of Pastoral Biography: Ackroyd, Carter, Berger
Versions of Pastoral Biography: Ackroyd, Carter, Berger

Author(s): Stephen Hardy
Subject(s): Philology, Theory of Literature, British Literature
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: Pastoral biography; English writers; Peter Ackroyd; Paul Carter; John Berger; literature genre;
Summary/Abstract: BIOGRAPHY and pastoral both constitute broad generic categorizations which are open to a constantly changing and developing variety of interpretations with regard to their precise nature and boundaries. This chapter primarily concerns itself with an analysis of parts of the work of three English-born writers, Peter Ackroyd (b. 1949), Paul Carter (b. 1951) and John Berger (b. 1926), and ways in which they provide instances of combining elements of biography and pastoral, while also challenging what might be considered as the boundaries of their conventional characterization. The commentary and analysis provided here are intended as initially suggestive rather than potentially definitive and do not therefore incorporate any theoretical overview of either genre. The prefatory remarks on biography and pastoral are provided as a form of contextualization which is intended to be of immediate relevance to what follows. No previous acquaintance is presumed on the part of the reader with the three writers in question. A short introductory sketch of the nature of their work will therefore be in order before embarking upon a more detailed exploration of those aspects relevant to the brief series of partly explicative and partly interpretive commentaries presented here.

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